


The Rebel and The Criminal

by ThisisMandee



Category: The Breakfast Club (1985)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Teenager, The Breakfast Club - Freeform, john bender - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2020-10-05 20:22:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20494775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisisMandee/pseuds/ThisisMandee
Summary: Mandy Marano was just your typical girl... Just kidding, she had some flaws. One of them being her attitude. When that attitude lands her in a Saturday detention in her new school how will everything go? What Mandy doesn't know is there is a boy, John Bender, that has just as bad of an attitude, and he is pretty easy on the eyes too. How will this Saturday go?





	1. Chapter1) Welcome to my Own Personal Hell

Authors notes. I know these first couple of chapters are slowing going. But trust me when I say that if you keep reading you won't regret it. It has been awhile since I have written. So I apologize for any mistakes that I don't catch. I just hope you will like this story. I have plans for a lot of twists and turns. Get ready to read the story of Mandy and her time in detention.

Saturday, March 24, 1984

Sherbert High School

Sherbert, Illinois, 60062

Dear Mr. Vernon,

We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention. What we did was wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay, telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, with the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, a rebel, and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning.

Chapter 1) Welcome to my Own Personal Hell

It was a cold brisk Saturday morning. I was in the parking lot outside of the building that I considered my own personal hell, or as others would like to call it Sherbert High School. I know what I did was wrong, but the thought of being at this god awful place on a Saturday was the worst feeling ever.

I watched as a red headed girl walked out of a BMW that was parked nearby. I knew who she was, Claire Standish. You had to be crazy if you didn't know who she was. She was the Princess of this school. She was in line to be prom queen. I was actually shocked to see her here on a Saturday. I would have thought that her dad would have figured out some way to get her out of this kind of punishment.

I began to walk towards the school when I noticed two more cars pulling up. A blonde haired boy stepped out of one of the cars. I know I had seen him in the halls but I never learned his name. He was one of those smart kids that got all A's. AKA not me. He was one of the few Brains of the school.

The other car belonged to our own personal Wrestling star. Andrew Clark. He was in the same social class as Claire. Those kids, where you knew them but they would never know you. He was one of the best wrestlers in our school, Letterman type. I never paid too much attention to the athletes in the school. I wasn't that big into the sports thing.

I had reached the front doors and I was about to walk into the halls of my own personal jail, when I heard a screech of another car from behind me. When I looked behind, I saw a girl walking towards the school in all black. I didn't recognize her. Did she even go to this school?

Then I noticed the person that was walking right by her. I had seen him before but I never learned his name, He was rarely at school. He was a kid that people would consider a criminal type. He had a walk to him that he didn't care what happened to him. All I knew was that this was going to be a very interesting detention if this was the group that we were going to be with.

As I walked into the Library I saw six tables, two rows of three. In no shock at all Claire and Andrew had decided to sit with each other at the same table. The table in the first row. The only thing that was in between them was one chair. I then saw the Brain who was at the table right behind them. I chose to take the spot that was at the table behind him. I was not much into being at the front and center for everyone to see me. I just wanted to serve my detention and go home.

Soon the criminal came walking in. He looked around at the other tables. But then he looked at the Brain and made a motion to show him to move. The Brain gave into the request and promptly got up and went to sit at the table next to the one that the Criminal had taken from him. I couldn't help but crack a smile at the high school cliche that was playing out in front of me. The nerd being afraid of the criminal. It was predictable to say the least.

My smile soon went away when it dawned on me that now this Criminal was going to be sitting right in front of me. I was hoping to just keep my head low and not get into it with anyone, but I had a feeling that was not going to be the case today. The Criminal took both chairs at the table, sitting on one of them and putting his feet on the other like a foot rest. "Oh great" was all I could think of to myself.

The other girl from outside came in walking from the doorway. She quickly ran to her seat which was at the table that was right next to mine. I took of my winter jacket to reveal my long sleeve band tee. It was oversized, the way I like it. I figured if I have to be here, I might as well be comfortable. The shirt also just matched well with my outfit which was skin tight pants, and my chuck taylors. I took down my brown hair from it ponytail, then I heard footsteps come into the library.


	2. Chapter 2) Barry Manilow

Chapter 2) Barry Manilow

I watch from my seat as Vice Principal Vernon walks into the library. He looks just as unimpressed to be here as we do.

"Well...well..here we are. I want to congratulate you for being on time..." He had started to say when Claire decided to open up her mouth.

"Excuse me, sir? I think there's been a mistake. I know it's detention, but...um... I don't think I belong here..."

I did all I could to hold back my laughter at her comment. Of course she couldn't comprehend why she was there. She probably thinks that the whole world should revolve around her. That's something I never liked about her kind. They all thought that everyone should kiss their shoes.

Vernon ignored her comment and continued on his speech.

"It is now 7:06. You have exactly eight hours and fifty-four minutes to think about why you're here. To ponder the error of your ways."

From the corner of my eyes I could see the Criminal in front of me spit into the air and catch it in his mouth. I was both disgusted and impressed at the same time. I looked over and saw Claire looked mortified by his act. Vernon continued.

"And you may not talk." he pointed to Claire. "You will not move from these seats." he then pointed at the Brain who was in the middle of shifting to the seat next to him, but decided against it. Vernon then glaces at the Criminal in front of me and points at him.

"And you" he pulls the chair that he was using as a footrest, "will not sleep" The Criminal looked at him with an expression of annoyance. I had a feeling that Vernon knew the kid in front of me all too well. I could only begin to imagine how many Saturday detentions he had had in his life time so far.

"Alright people, we're gonna try something a little different today. We are going to write an essay, of no less than a thousand words, describing to me who you think you are"

"Is this a test?" I heard the Criminal speak up.

Vernon was passing out paper and pencils to all of us. When he put the supplies infront of me, I couldn't help but give him a look of 'what the fuck'. I was not about to spend my Saturday writing a paper. I don't think any of us were thrilled about this concept.

"And when I say essay, I mean essay. I do not mean a single word repeated a thousand times. Is that clear Mr. Bender?" He directed that last part to the Criminal that was sitting in front of me.

"Crystal" He responded.

"Good. Maybe you'll learn a little something about yourself. Maybe you'll even decide whether or not you care to return." As he said this I was screaming a 'Hell no' in my head. But then I saw the Brain standing up. 'Oh this should be great' is all I could think.

"You know, I can answer that right now sir. That'd be 'No', no for me. Cause..."

"Sit down Johnson"

"Thank you sir" The brain sat back down. What did he think that was going to accomplish? I really was curious. Vernon looked all of us over and began talking again.

"My office" he points out the door way, " is right across that hall. Any monkey business is ill-advised. Any questions?"

"Yeah...I got a question." Bender says. Oh this is going to be good, I was all of a sudden very intrigued in the conversation. "Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?"

I couldn't hold in my laughter. Bender took a quick glance at me, I looked at him but couldn't help but smile. That was a good question. I directed my stare back at Vernon. You could tell he was very angry.

"I'll give you the answer to that question, Mr. Bender, next Saturday. Don't mess with the bull young man, you'll get the horns. And if you think he is so funny Miss. Marano, then you can join him next weekend."

My mouth dropped. Are you kidding me. All because I laughed, this was ridiculous. Bender looked back at me and smiled and all I could manage was giving him a scowl. I am glad one of found this so amusing. Vernon looks over all of us again and then finally leaves the library. Thank god, I didn't know how much more I could have taken from him.

"That man is a brownie hound" Bender says and looks back at me, I agreed with that statement. But I was still annoyed, so all I could manage was an annoyed smile.


	3. Chapter 3) You’ll Make it Crawl Back Up

Chapter 3) You'll Make it Crawl Back Up

I decided to take this moment to actually look around me in this library. I had just moved to Illinois in January of this year. So to say the least I didn't know too much about this place. I was taken off guard when I heard a snapping sound coming from right next to me. When I looked to find the source of the sound I found they girl in all Black biting her nails. I wasn't one to judge, I would bite my nails every once in awhile, but this girl was really going in on her nails. I looked around me and saw that everyone else was staring at her as well. She then looked up at us.

"You keep eating your hand and you're not gonna be hungry for lunch" Bender said to the girl.

She retaliated by spitting a part of her nail over at him.

"I've seen you before, you know." He said.

I looked over at the Brain and I noticed that he was playing with his pen.

"Who do I think I am? Who are you?... Who are you?" The Brain was saying to himself. I then watched as he hooked the pen on his bottom lip, as the pen was close to going up his nose. I let out a laugh.

"I'm a walrus.."The Brain said.

I noticed Bender was giving this poor kid a very confused look. I cou;dn't help but smile I found it amusing. However, the Brain noticed our staring and he instantly gave a small laugh and took the pen out of his mouth. I could tell that he was embarrassed about what had happened.

Right at that moment Bender and the Brain began to take off their jackets at the same time. I held in a laugh as Bender looked over at this kid and gave him a look of 'you stop that right now.' The Brain instantly stopped taking off his jacket and Bender continues to remove his coat. I notice that the Brain tries to play it off and blows on his hands like he is cold and puts his jacket back on. I looked over and noticed that Bender was still staring at this kid.

"It's the shits, huh?" The brain said. You could tell he was very uncomfortable. Luckily for him Bender had redirected his attention. However, unluckily for me his attention was now turned to me.

"What?" 'I asked in a sassy tone as he was looking at me. Unlike the Brain I was not going to take Bender's shit.

"Woah there sweets, no need to get your panties in a twist." He replied.

I let out a sigh, I was being a bit rude. In a calmer tone I asked, "What?"

"I have never seen you before? What's your deal?"

"I recently moved here from Maine, so that would explain it."

"Well newbie, you got a name?" He asked me with a smirk on his face.

"Maybe. Do you have a first name, Bender?" I couldn't help but give him the sass that I am well known for.

"I asked you first" he stated. But I didn't respond, instead I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms and gave him a smirk right back. "It's John. Now will you answer me?"

"It's Mandy, Mandy Marano." Almost instantly I saw a sly smirk on his face. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say and I just embraced myself for what was coming next.

"Mandy, huh? Like Barry Manilow's dog? No wonder your such a bitch." I knew that was going to happen. I just continued to look at him with my arms crossed and look at him with an unimpressed look on my face. I refused to give into his shenanigans. I think he noticed it too. He flipped his long brown hair and turned around. He takes the piece of paper that was in front of him and crumpled it up into a ball and throws it in between Andrew and Claire's heads. They ignore his existence, and I can tell that it is really getting to Bender. He then begins to sing the beginning of Sunshine of Your Love by Cream, while also playing the air guitar. I began to wonder if this kid had a problem. He just could not sit still for two minutes. What was his issue.

I then heard Claire sigh from the front and begin to say, "I can't believe this is really happening to me"

Of course she would think she is too good to be here. But I didn't know we were going to do the whole 'woe is me' bit. I jumped when I all of a sudden heard someone punch the table.

"Oh, shit! What're we s'posed to do if we hafta take a piss?" Bender started to say. I then looked and saw Claire have a horrified look on her face.

"Disgusting" I heard her scoff.

"If you gotta go..." Bender stood up, unzipped his fly and bent over the table. " You gotta go!"

All I could manage to say was an "oh my god" Again, what is with this kid? We haven't even been here an hour and we are already doing this stupid shit. I then Heard Andrew speak up.

"Hey, you're not urinating in here man!"

"Don't talk! Don't talk! It makes it crawl back up!" Bender responds.

"You whip it out and you're dead before the first drop hits the floor!"

Bender just gasps at Andrews angry response and continues to say, "You're pretty sexy when you get angry" He then gives a small growl. I watch as he turns his attention back over to the Brain. "Hey homeboy, why don't you go close that door. We'll get the prom queen impregnated!"

Claire whipped her head around and gives him a glare, but as predicted Andrew comes to her rescue. God can't she stand up for herself. "Hey!" he yells at Bender, however he is ignored.. "Hey!"

"What?" Bender asks.

"If I lose my temper, you're totalled man!"

"Totally?"

"Totally!"

Claire then finally decides she wants to speak up. "Why don't you just shut up! Nobody here is interested!" I had to admit she wasn't completely wrong. I was not interested in being the one at the center of the conversation, but I do have to admit, watching Bender get under the two populars skin was very fun to watch.

"Really! Buttface!" Andrew decided to add to Claire's statement. But Bender wasn't going to give up that easily and I could tell.

"Well hey Sporto! What'd you do to get in here? Forget to wash your jock?"

The Brain tried to intervene on the situation. "Uh, excuse me fellas? I think we should just write our papers..." but he was ignored by the other two gentlemen.

"Look, just because you live in here doesn't give you the right to be a pain in the ass...so knock it off!" Andrew scolds at Bender. John pretends to have an upset expression on his face. I did have to admit they were being a bit harm to him now.

"It's a free country" Bender responded.

Claire turned to Andrew. "He's just doing it to get a rise out of you! Just ignore him."

"Sweets" Bender flipped his hair. "You couldn't ignore me if you tried." Claire rolled her eyes and tried to look forward and ignore Bender. "So, so! Are you guys like boyfriend, girlfriend?" He said directing it to Claire and Andrew. I did have to admit I was wondering the same thing. I had only been at this school for a couple of months but it did cross my mind that they might be dating. "Steady dates? Lovers? Come one Sporto, level with me. Do you slip her the hot...beef...injection?"

Both of them whip right around and scream.

"Go to hell!"

"Enough!"

I swear we are all going to get detention for the rest of our lives if we keep this up. That is when I heard Vernon yell from his office. "Hey! What's going on in there?"


	4. Chapter 4) Academics Aren’t the Same

Chapter 4)Academics Aren't the Same

"Scumbag" Andrew mumbles to himself. I then got taken off guard as Bender stands up and he jumps on to the railing that was right next to the two populars table. "What do you say we close that door. We can't have any kind of party with Vernon checking us out every few seconds." He turned his head towards me. "How about you Newbie? Want to have a good time?" He gave me a smirk. I couldn't help but sense a bit of flirting going on. What was weirder was the fact that I actually liked it.

"Well, you know the door's supposed to stay open" The Brain responds.

"So what?" I did have to agree with Bender on this one. I would much rather have it so we weren't being watched every second. It was bad enough we had to be here all day, but if we didn't have to be watched like animals in a cage it would make it bearable.

"So why don't you just shut up! There's five other people in here you know?" Andrew interrupted my thoughts.

"God, you can count. See! I knew you had to be smart to be a... a wrestler."

"Who the hell are you to judge anybody anyway?" Andrew questioned Bender.

"Really" Clair interjected.

Andrew continued. "You know, Bender... you don't even count. I mean if you disappeared forever it wouldn't make any difference. You may as well not even exist at this school." I was in shock about what had just came out of Andrews mouth.

"Harsh!" I spoke up from the back of the room. That was really mean to say to anyone, even if it was directed to Bender who has been nothing but trouble. Bender looked over to me a bit shocked that someone was actually standing up for him in a way. He smirked and then turned his attention back to Andrew.

"Well... I'll just run right out and join the wrestling team." Claire and Andrew share a laugh. "Maybe the prep club too! Student council"

Andrew stopped him mid sentence, "No, they wouldn't take you"

"I'm hurt"

Claire then decides to get in on the conversation. "You know why guys like you knock everything?"

"Oh, this should be stunning" Bender mumbles to himself.

"It's cause you're afraid." I couldn't help but scoff at what Claire just said. She couldn't not be serious about this whole conversation.

"Oh, God! You richies are so smart, that's exactly why I'm not heavy in activities!" I could sense so much sarcasm in Bender's voice.

"You're a big coward!" Claire states. I get amusement from her. She thinks she is such a badass, but I think deep down she is the coward. I turn around when I hear a noise from behind me.

"I'm in the math club.." The Brain says, but I think I am the only one that heard him.

"See you're afraid that they won't take you. You don't belong so you just have to dump all over it." Claire continues.

"Well... it wouldn't have anything to do with you activities people being assholes, now would it?"

"Well you wouldn't know...You don't even know any of us."

Bender leans forward from where he was sitting on the railing. " Well, I don't know any lepers either, but I'm not gonna run out and join one of their fucking clubs."

"Hey let's watch the mouth, huh?" Andrew says directing it to Bender. Then I heard the Brain speak up again.

"I'm in the physics club too" This time I can tell that I am not the only one that heard him.

"S'cuse me a sec" Bender says to Claire. He is then talking to the Brain directly. "What are you babbling about?"

"Well, what I said was, I'm in the math club, the Latin club and the physics club...physics club."

It was like the Brain gave more fuel to the fire and he didn't know it, but I could sense it. Bendere then looked back at Claire. "Hey, Cherry, do you belong to the physics club?"

"That's an academic club"

"So?"

"So, academic clubs aren't the same as other kinds of clubs." I was getting really sick of Claire's attitude. I thought Bender was bad, but I stand corrected. Claire was much worse.

"Oh, but to dorks like him," Bender starts and points to the Brain, "they are." He then talks directly to the Brain. "What do you guys do in your club?"

"In physics, um, we, um, we talk about physics, about properties of physics."

"So it's sorta social, demented and sad, but social. Right?"

"Yeah, well, I guess you could consider it a social situation. I mean there are other children in my club and, uh, at the end of the year we have, um, you know, a big banquet, at the, uh, at the Hilton."

"You load up, you party" Bender said.

"Well, no, we get dressed up, I mean, but, we don't, we don't get high."

"Only burners like you get high" Claire interjections like always and looks at Bender. I take slight offense to this. Granted I don't do it every waking hour of every day, but I have personally have been known to dabble in the art of Kush.

The Brain continued. "And, uh, I don't have any shoes. So I had to borrow my dad's. It was kinda weird cause my mom doesn't like me to wear other people's shoes. And, uh, my cousin Kent, my cousin Kendall from, uh, Indiana, he got high once and you know, he started eating like really weird foods. And, uh, and then he just felt like he didn't belong anywhere. You know, kinda like, you know 'Twilight Zone' kinda."

Claire looked back over at Bender. "Sounds like you"

"Look, you guys keep up your talking and Vernon's gonna come right in here. I got a meet this Saturday and I'm not gonna miss it on account of you boneheads." Andrew states.

"Oh and wouldn't that be a bite" Bender says in a mocking tone. "Missing a whole wrestling meet!"

"Well, you wouldn't know anythign about it, faggot! You never competed in your whole life!"

Bender pretended to be hurt by Andrews insult. "Oh, I know, I feel all empty inside because of it. I have such a deep admiration for guys that roll around on the floor with other guys!"

"Ahhh, you'd never miss it. You don't have any goals." Andrew said. I could sense that he was trying to put on an 'I don't care facade.'

"Oh, but I do!"

"Yeah?"

"I wanna be just like you! I figure all I need's a labotamy and some tights!"

I try to hold back my laughter at this comment. It was true Wrestlers pretty much wore tights and hugged other men in tights. I could tell that the Brain seemed to be interested in this part of the conversation too. "You wear tights?" He asked.

"No I don't wear tights, I wear the required uniform." Andrew defended himself.

"Tights!" I decided to speak up from the back of the room. I couldn't help but laugh at this. Claire and Bender looked over at me. I could tell they were both also trying to hold in their laughter.

"Shut up!" Andrew yelled in my direction. I heard Vernon make movement from across the hall and I saw Bender quickly sit down at the empty seat between Claire and Andrew. I couldn't help but admire that Bender did have an attractive quality to him. But god what was I thinking he was nothing but trouble.


	5. Chapter 5) Screws Fall Out

Chapter 5)Screws Fall Out

We all sat there is silence for a moment. After a brief moment, the coast seemed to be clear. Bender took his opportunity to strike. I saw as he quickly got up and walked towards the doors to the library. The doors that separates us from Vernon.

"You know there's not supposed to be any monkey business!" The Brain spoke up to Bender.

John turns around and points right at the Brain. "Young man, have you finished your paper?" He said, mocking Vernon's statement from earlier. He turns back around and heads back towards the doors. He looks around to make sure that the coast was clear and then I watched as he took a screw out from the door hinge. I was both annoyed and slightly excited about this. I was happy that Vernon wasn't going to be able to watch us from across the halls anymore.

"What are you gonna do?" Claire asked.

"Drop dead, I hope!" Andrew exclaimed.

I don't get why they had to be so mean to him. Wait, I take that back, I do know why they are mean to him. However, do they not realize that we will finally have some privacy with that door close. I could totally take a nap right now without being walked in on.

"Bender, that's, that's school property there, you know, it doesn't belong to us. It's something not to be toyed with." The Brain yells over to John. I heard the door slam shut. I knew right then and there that Vernon also heard that door. I started to get nervous for his anger.

Andrew speaks up, "That's very funny, come on, fix it"

"You should really fix that" The Brain adds.

"Am I a genius?" Bender says in a sarcastic manner.

"No, you're an asshole!" Andrew snaps back.

"What a funny guy!"

"Fix the door Bender!"

"Everyone just shhhhh!" Bender continues and he is sitting back in his chair. "I've been here before, I know what I'm doing!"

Andrew is looking at Bender, and I could see the anger in his eyes, "No! Fix the door, get up there and fix it!"

Bender raises his voice, "Shut up!"

Almost on cue Vernon barges through the door, with smoke coming from his ears. This is going to be very bad. "Why is that door closed?"

"How're we supposed to know? We're not supposed to move right?" Bender responds. He really is bad at putting on the 'I'm a good kid act'.

Vernon looks over to Claire. "Why?" I was almost positive that Claire was going to tell on Bender and he was going to get chewed out by the Vice Principal. Claire's response took me completely off guard.

"We were just sitting here, like were supposed to"

Vernon looks around at everyone and then glances at Bender. "Who closed that door?"

Bender is looking down at the table when he responded. "I think a screw fell out of it"

"It just closed sir" Andrew added. I was surprised that everyone was keeping their mouths shut.

"We were just sitting here and we heard the door shut. No one moved." I decided to add to the conversation. I just wished that Vernon would get out the library already. I think he just needed to give up and realize that we weren't going to give in. He looked over to the quiet girl in the corner.

"Who?"

All she could manage was a squeal and then she bashed her head down onto the table. I really hope she was okay. I was starting to wonder if she was ever going to talk today.

"She doesn't talk sir" Bender said. That brings Vernon's attention right back to Bender.

"Give me that screw"

"I don't have it" Bender attested.

"You want me to yank you outta that seat and shake it out of you?"

"I don't have it, screws fall out all of the time, the world's an imperfect place."

"Give it to me, Bender"

I couldn't watch this go on anymore. "Excuse me, sir, why would anybody want to steal a screw?" I asked Vernon. I had to speak up or we were going to continue this whole he said she said bit. Bender looked back at me kind of surprised that I was helping him out. I gave him a smirk.

"Watch it, young lady" Vernon pointed at me with a stern look. He then decided to walk over towards the door. He grabbed a folded chair that was behind the desk right by the door. H put the chair in between the door and the wall, to try to prop it open.

"The door's way too heavy sir" Bender yelled over to Vernon. At that moment the door closes on the chair and the chair flies down the hallway and the door shuts. We all let out a laugh. This is complete gold. Vernon swings the door back open and then stands there is frustration. I think then something dawns on him.

"Andrew Clark, get up here. Come on, front and center, let;s go" Andrew quickly shoots up and walks over to the door.

"Hey, how come Andrew gets to get up? If he gets up, we'll all get up, it'll be anarchy!" Bender yells over to the Vice Principal. They are now trying to take the Magazine rack that was near the door and put that in the doorway to prop open the door. All I hear is the magazines on the rack come flying off. I am guessing it is not a very clever idea. "That's very clever sir, but what if there's a fire? I think violating fire codes and endangering the lives of children would be unwise at this juncture in your career, sir"

I looked over and saw that Verenon was thinking about it and he realized it was not smart. He then looks over to Andrew and addresses him. "Alright, what are you doing with this? Get this outta here for God's sake! What's the matter with you? Come on!" He snaps at Andrew. I can't believe that Vernon blames Andrew for his idea. It just shows that he doesn't care about us kids.

I then hear a voice in front of me that I haven't heard in awhile. "You know the school comes equipped with fire exits at either end of the library." The Brain speaks up. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Of course he wanted to ruin this brilliant plan.

"Show Dick some respect!" Bender snaps at him. Andrew then comes back and sits back down at his seat. Vernon is right behind him. He also seems to be angrier than he was before.

"I expected a little more from a varsity letterman!" I had to say Vernon was being very harsh to Andrew. He then points to Bender. "You're not fooling anybody, Bender! The next screw that falls out is gonna be you!" Vernon turns to leave and then I heard Bender mumble something under his breath but I couldn't make out what he said. Vernon turns around and I could tell that I wasn't the only one that heard something.

"What was that?" Vernon asks.

"Eat. My. Shorts." Bender responds. He had venom in his words.

"You just bought yourself another Saturday, mister!"

"Oh, Christ"

"You just bought one more right there!" Vernon exclaims he is holding up two fingers.

"Well, I'm free the Saturday after that, beyond that, I'm gonna have to check my calendar"

"Good! Cause it's gonna be filled, we'll keep going! You want another one? Say the word, just say the word! Instead of going to prison, you'll come here! Are you through?" Verenon was vivid at this point.

"No" Bender responded.

"I'm doing society a favor!"

"So?" Bender was short.

"That's another one, right now! I've got you for the rest of your natural born life if you don't watch your step! You want another one?"

"Yes!"

"You got it! You got another one, right there! That another one pal!"

I couldn't watch Bender keep doing this. I don't think he understood what he was doing. He would keep going until he had detention for his whole life. I was getting worried for him. I looked over to him and cried out, "Cut it out!" He looked over at me confused. I mouthed the word 'stop'. I couldn't tell if it was just me but in that moment it looked like his face softened for a second, but then he looked back up at Vernon.

"You through?" Vernon asks

"Not even close, Bud!" Bender says mocking him.

"Good! You got one more, right there!"

"Do you really think I give a shit?"

"Another, you through?"

Bender is glaring at Vernon. "How many is that?"

The Brain responses from the front, "That's seven including the one when we first came in and you asked Mr. Vernon here whether Barry Manilow knew that he raided his closet"

"Now it's eight" Vernon then looks at the Brain and says, "You stay out of it!"

"Excuse me, sir, it's seven!" The Brain doesn't know how to just let it go.

"Shut up Peewee!" I didn't think Vernon could talk to students like this. He turns back to Bender. "You're mine Bender, for two months I gotcha! I gotcha!"

"What can I say? I'm thrilled!" Bender says with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sure that's exactly what you want these people to believe. You know something Bender? You ought to spend a little more time trying to do something with yourself and a little less time trying to impress people. You might be better off." He then looks over everyone. "Alright, that's it! I'm going to be right outside those doors. The next time I have to come in here, I'm cracking skulls" I see Bender mouthing the words as Vernon says them. My best guess is that it is a popular Vernon saying.

Vernon then walks out of the library. I can tell by Bender demeanor that he wasn't going to let this go. I then heard the pain in his voice when he yells, "FUCK YOU!"


	6. Chapter 6) Are You a Virgin?

Chapter 6) Are you a Virgin?

The time was 7:45, I noticed that Bender still seemed a bit steamed from the exchange that happened earlier. I was debating whether or not I should say anything to him or not. He had been nothing but a prick all day, but that doesn't mean that he deserved the treatment that he was getting. I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try to be nice to him. I took the piece of paper that was in front of me and crumple it up. I threw it in his direction, but I missed hitting him and instead it landed on the table in front of him. Either way it still got his attention.

He turned around to look at me. He had an annoyed look, but I was already in this deep I might as well go for it.

"Are you okay?" I whispered to him. Trying to make sure I didn't grab the attention of the others in the room. He just looked at me for a second before he responded.

"I don't need your sympathy, sweets." He then turned back around. I was a bit annoyed. I went out of my way to try to be nice and it bite me in the butt. Oh well, at least I could say that I tried to make everything better.

I watched as the clock just ticked by. It seemed like it was going by at a snail's pace. I looked around the room. Claire was daydreaming, Andrew was playing with his sweatshirt, the Brain was messing around with his stuff. The girl in the corner was drawing on the desk. And Bender, well Bender decided to light his shoe on fire, and then proceeded to light his cigarette with his shoe. I watched as he slapped the flame out.

I decided to take this time to zone out and maybe day dream a bit. I took the jacket I had and put it under my head to use it as a pillow. After what felt like ten minutes, my eyes began to get heavy. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

I got woken up to hearing Vernon coming into the room. I didn't bother opening my eyes.

"Wake up!" He said, but I refused to move, and I don't think anyone else moved either. "Who has to go to the lavatory?"

My hand shot up and I also heard everyone else move, so my best guess we all raise our hands. I was glad to be able to finally get up and stretch my legs.

The time was now 10:22. Bender was sitting at the front desk ripping pages out of a book. The Brain was leaning on a pillar close by. Andrew was stretching his legs out on the railings that was nearby. Claire and the other girl remained sitting in their seats. I decided to sit right on top of the table that Bender was sitting at earlier.

Bender continued to rip out the pages in the book and he threw them in the air. "That's real intelligent." Andrew commented.

Bender replied, "You're right, it's wrong to destroy literature." He continued to tear out the pages in the book. "It's such fun to read and," He looked at the pages of the book, "Molet really pumps my nads!"

"Mol-yare" Claire says from her seat looking over at the group of us.

"I love his work" The Brain said from his spot by the pillar. Bender threw the rest of the book over at him for that comment. John then takes a draw full of catalogue cards and begins to mix them up. All I have to say is I am glad that I don't have to work in the library after Bender has been in here. I would not want to have to pick up this mess.

"Big deal, nothing to do when you're locked in a vacancy." Bender says.

"Speak for yourself." Andrew responds.

"Do you think I'd speak for you? I don't even know your language!"

Andrew ignores Benders comment and instead turns to face Claire."Hey, you grounded tonight?" Claire gives him a shrug.

"I don't know, my mom said I was but my dad told me to just blow her off." She says.

"Big party at Stubbies, parents are in Europe. Should be pretty wild."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, can you go?"

"I don't it" Claire sighed.

"How come?" Andrew questioned

"Well, cause if I do what my mother tells me not to do, it's because my father says it's okay. There's like this whole big monster deal, it's endless and it's a total drag. It's like any minute, divorce."

Bender decided to speak up. "Who do you like better?"

"What?"

"You like your old man better than your mom?"

"They're both strict"

Bender shook his head. "No, I mean if you had to choose between them."

Claire shrugs and looks down at the table, "I dunno, I'd probably go live with my brother. I mean, I don't think either one of them gives a shit about me. It's like they use me just to get back at each other."

"HA!" We all whipped our heads around to find the source. It was the girl in the back of the room. She blew some of her hair out of her face. She gives all of us a grin. I was shocked, she did speak.

"Shut up!" Claire snapped at her. I couldn't help myself I glared at Claire. She didn't even know this girl and she was being rude.

"You're just feeling sorry for yourself." Andrews says.

"Yeah, well if I didn't nobody else would." I couldn't believe she was saying this.

"I doubt that. If you told your friends, they would feel sooo sad for you." I spoke up from the table. Claire gave me a mean look. She was about to say something when Andrew interrupted.

"Aw, you're breaking my heart"

"You guys are one to talk. Hey Newbie, do you get along with your parents?" Bender decided to ask me.

"No, and before you get to ask me. I would choose my mom. Correction, I did choose my mom. My parents got a divorce in December." I snapped right back at Bender. I don't think he was expecting that type of answer. He gave me a blank expression. I was not going to deal with this kid anymore today. I had tried to be nice to him, and then he came in and started to single me out. I was not going to play this game. I think he caught the hint because he turned his attention to Andrew.

"What about you sporto? You get along with your parents?" Bender then jumps down from the desk he was sitting on and jumps over the railing to face Andrew.

"Well if I say yes, I'm an idiot, right?"

"You're and idiot anyway, but if you say you get along with your parents, well you're a liar too!" Bender starts to walk away then all of a sudden Andrew pushes Bender.

"You know something man, If we weren't in school right now, I'd waste you!"

Bender pints his middle finger to the floor. "Can you hear this? Want me to turn it up?" He begins to flip his finger around so he is now flipping off Andrew.

I see the Brain stand up and get in between the two boys. "Hey fellas I mean, I don't like my parents either. I don't, I don't get along with them, their idea of parental compassion is just, you know, wacko."

Bender turns to face the Brain, "Dork"

"Yeah?"

"You are a pren't wet dream, okay?" Bender starts to walk away, but the Brain was not going to stop there.

"Well that's a problem!"

"Look, I can see you getting all bunged up for them making you wear these kinda clothes. But face it, you're a Neo-Maxi-Zoom-Dweedbie! What would you be doing if you weren't out making yourself a better citizen?"

"Do you have to insult everyone?" Andrew asks Bender.

"I'm being honest, asshole! I would expect you to know the difference."

"Yeah well, he's got a name!"

"Yeah?" Bender said while raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah." Andrew looks over to the Brain. I am not going to lie I was a bit excited to finally learn this kids name. "What's your name?"

"Brian" The Brain responds.

"See"

Bender looks over at Brian. "My condolences"

Claire speaks upf from the front of the room. "What's your name?" She directs towards Bender.

"What's yours?"

"Claire"

"Ka-Laire?"

Claire seemed offended by his response. "Claire, It's a family name"

"No, It's a fat girl's name" I couldn't help but hold in a chuckle. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I had a friend in the past and she also had a fat girls name.

"Well thank you"

"You're welcome"

"I'm not fat!" Calire yells at Bender.

"Well not at present but I could see you really pushing maximum density. You see, I'm not sure if you know this, but there are two kinds of fat people. There's fat people that were born to be fat, and then there's fat people that were once thin but they became fat. So when you look at them you can sort of see that thin person inside. You see, you're gonna get married, you're gonna squeeze out a few puppies and then uh..." Be fills his cheeks with hair and makes a fat noise. Claire flips him off. "Oh obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl"

"I'm not that pristine"

Bender bends down and gets closer to Claire. "Are you a virgin? I'll bet you a million dollars that you are. Let's end the suspense, is it gonna be a white wedding?" These comments were actually starting to get me pissed off. I didn't like the populars that much, but I think someone's sexual life is not a topic that should be talked about in front of a bunch of strangers.

"Why don't you just shut up?" Claire exclaimed.

"Have you ever kissed a boy on the mouth?" I felt my blood starting to boil. "Have you ever been felt up? Over the bra, under the blouse, shoes off, hoping to God your parents don't walk in?" I began to stand up from the table. No one deserves to be harassed like this.

"Do you want me to puke?" Claire asked him. I could see on her face that she was getting upset.

"Over the panties, no bra, blouse unbuttoned, Calvin's in a ball on the front seat past eleven on a school night?" Before I knew it I was right next to Bender. He hadn't noticed, but I was fed up with his shit attitude, and at this point I was blinded my rage. Before I knew it, my hand was in a fist. In a blink of an eye my fist had made contact with Benders jaw. Oh my god, I just punched John Bender.


	7. Chapter 7) It’s Okay to be a Virgin

Chapter 7) Its Okay to be a Virgin

There was nothing but shock on everyone's faces. Bender reached towards his jaw and slowly started to stand up straight. I took one step back, but I couldn't go far before I backed up to the railing. I was bracing myself for whatever was going to happen next. John stepped closer to me. I was surprised to see the look on his face. There was nothing. He had a blank expression. For some reason this made me even more nervous, I really couldn't tell what was about to happen. He didn't say anything. I knew I was going to be the one to have to speak up first, but I was having a hard time forming words.

"Sorry" I let out in a whisper. Why was I apoloigizing for that. He deserved it. Why did he have this effect on me. Making me feel small all of a sudden. I was always the one that was big and bad. I had to be the strong one for the others around me. But now I felt like I was crawling into a hole in the ground. "You shouldn't talk to them like that" Another whispered sentence.

His face got closer to mine. I could smell the cigarettes on his breath. "I really don't want to get into it with you Mandy" He says in a flat tone. The whole sentence takes me off guard. This is the first time he used my name. I didn't know what to do. I froze. My emotions were everywhere in that exact moment. I was still mad at him for being such an asshole, but I was also taken aback by his reaction. It wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting him to begin yelling, but he was calm. My head felt like it was everywhere.

He just kept staring at me, not saying anything. I was looking down at the floor but then I decided to look up. I made eye contact with him, and for a brief moment I felt a different feeling. When I looked in his eyes I saw hurt and pain. And in that moment I felt like there was so much more to John Bender then I could ever comprehend. Andrews voice broke us up.

"Leave her alone!"

Bender turned his head towards Andrew and began walking towards him. "You gonna make me?"

"Yeah"

I walked back over to my original seat and choose to watch this altercation from afar. Bender was now in Andrews face. "You and how many of your friends?"

"Just me, just you and me. Two hits. Me hitting you, you hitting the floor! Anytime you're ready pal!"

Bender goes to hit Andrew but Andrew grabs his arm and puts it behind his back and soon he has Bender pinned to the floor. I don't know what kind of move this was but I was impressed with Andrews wrestling moves.

"I don't wanna get into this with you man" Bender said mumbled with his face pushed into the ground.

Andrew gets up releasing Bender. "Why not?"

John then gets up from the floor and fixes himself. "Cause I'd kill you, it's real simple. I'd kill you and your parents would sue me and it would be a big mess and I don't care enough about you to bother. "

"Chicken shit" Andrew scoffs and is walking away. I then watched as Bender reaches into his pocket and pulls out a switchblade . He was walking backwards and he was right next to my chair at this point. I could sense the anger that was built up in Bender. He proceeds to stab the knife into the chair that was next to the quiet girl at the table next to me.

Andrew turns around and points at Bender. "Let's end this right now." I look over and see the quiet girl take the switchblade out of the chair and keeps it for herself. "You don't talk to them, you don't look at them, and you don't even think about them. You understand me!" I smiled at the fact that Andrew was also standing up for me as well as Claire. I guess I did judge him too soon, maybe he was a good guy. Bender being Bender, he had to get the last word.

"I'm trying to help them" He then sits down in his seat.

I had my head resting on the jacket I was wearing. I was using it as a pillow, zoning out. I couldn't help but let my eyes wander over to John, who was now sitting at the table right next to Claire and Andrew in the front. This was the first time he has been this quiet all day. For some reason I was completely mystified by this kid. I had a feeling deep in the pit of my stomach that there was so much more to him. He put on this front but every once in awhile he would let his guard down. I just wished I knew what was going on.

I then heard music coming from the door of the library. I looked over and saw the janitor walking into one of the offices and grabbing the trash. He then looks up and makes eye contact with Brian.

"Brian, how you doing?" He says.

Bender looks over at Brian. "Your dad works here?" You could tell Brian looked embarrassed. So what if his dad worked here. John then chooses to address the janitor. "Uh, Carl?"

"What?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure..." Carl seemed to be interested in what Bender had to say. It makes me wonder if they see eachother every Saturday.

"How does one become a janitor?"

"You wanna be a janitor?" Carl responds in a sarcastic tone while also raising one eyebrow towards Bender.

"No, I just wanna know how one becomes a janitor because Andrew here, is very interested in pursuing a career in the custodial arts" Bender has a smug look on his face. Like he is so proud of this joke, but I look over at Carl and you can tell that he isn't having any of it.

"Oh, really? You guys think I'm just some untouchable peasant? Peon? Huh? Maybe so, but following a broom around after shitheads like you for the past eight years I've learned a couple of things, I look through your letters, I look through your lockers, I listen to your conversations, you don't know that but I do. I am the eyes and ears of this institution my friends." He looks down at the watch on his wrist and then he points at the clock in the back of the library. "By the way, that clock's twenty minutes fast."

Everyone groans, but I can't help but smile at this. I see that Bender also finds this amusing.

The time was now 11:30. Bender was back in his original seat. He had his scarf around his head. He started to whistle a marching tune. I couldn't help but let out a laugh and whistle along with him. I noticed that everyone else joined it. Then we heard the library door open and saw Vernon walking towards us. Everyone stopped but Bender, who had now decided to change his whistle to Beethoven's 5th.

"Alright girls, that's thirty minutes for lunch" Vernon says to all of us.

"Here?" Andrew asks.

"Here" Vernon responds

"Well I think the cafeteria would be a more suitable place for us to eat lunch in, sir"

"Well, I don't care what you think, Andrew!"

Bender speaks up, "Uh, Dick? Excuse me, Rich, will milk be made available to us?"

"We're extremely thirsty sir" Andrew says.

"I have a very low tolerance for dehydration." Claire adds.

Andrew agrees and says, "I've seen her dehydrate sir, it's pretty gross."

Bender begins to stand up from his chair. "Relax, I'll get it"

"Ah, ah, ah grab some wood there bub!" Vernon says and Bender gives him a smile "What do you think, I was born yesterday? You think I'm gonna have you roaming these halls?" Bender sits back down, and Vernon points at Andrew. "You" Andrew points at Claire to see if Vernon will pick her. "And you" Instead Vernon points over to the girl that has been in the corner all day. "Hey! What's her name? Wake her! Wake her! Come on, on your feet missy! Let's go! This is no rest home!" The girl stands up "There's a soft drink machine in the teacher's lounge. Let's go!" Vernon, Andrew, and the girl all leave the library.

We all sat there quiet for a moment, but then I realized that I could use this time to get up and move around. I stand up from my chair and I see the remaining people stare at me. I look back at them, but before they can ask me where I am going I am already in the pews of books that are in the back of the library. I wasn't shocked when I saw Bender walk over towards me. I was surprised though when he instead decides to sit on the desk nearby and doesn't say anything. I am not going to lie having his company for that moment was nice. Even though I was nervous that he might say something at any moment. I decided to take this moment to flash him a genuine smile. He looks up at me and returns the smile. He really was very attractive when he wasn't saying stupid shit. He grabs a book that was on the desk.

Soon Brian and Claire join us. Brian is sitting next to John and Claire is leaning on the weird statue that was near me. Bender has the book open to a random page. "Claire, you wanna see a picture of a guy with elephantitis of the nuts? It's pretty tasty"

"No thank you" Claire says

"How do you think he rides a bike?" I see Claire roll her eyes at his comment. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Oh, Claire, would you ever consider dating a guy like this?"

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

"I mean if he had a great personality and was a good dancer and had a cool car, Although you'd probably have to ride in the back seat, cause his nuts would ride shotgun."

Claire ignored him and instead said, "You know what I wish I was doing?"

"Op, watch what you say, Brian here is a cherry" Bender says pointing at Brian.

Brian looks offended, "A cherry?"

Claire then looks over at me and says, "I wish I was on a plane to France." In that moment she looked like she was just a normal teenager.

"Yeah? What would you do in France?" I ask her.

"Not what you think, yeah the shopping would be nice, but I want to go there and experience the culture, and just get away from this mundane place."

"I can relate to that" She looks directly at me. "I wish I was in Italy. I am Italian and I would love to experience what my family has and see where my family came from."

"Yeah, it would be nice, but instead we are stuck here in this stupid library, on a Saturday!" Claire doesn't say anything else. In this moment I realized that without the pressures of her friends Claire was actually a nice person. To bad the stereotypes of high school are a thing because I think Claire and me could have been good friends.

"Oh, you did it with both Claire and the Newbie?" We heard bender ask. Her and me both turned our heads towards the boys.

"What are you talking about?" Claire asks.

I saw Brian's face go blank, and then sudden embarrassment. "Nothing, nothing. Let's just drop it, we'll talk about it later"

I was not going to let them drop whatever they were talking about especially if I was involved. "No! Drop what, what are you talking about?"

"Well, Brian's trying to tell me that in addition to the number of girls in the Niagara Falls area, that presently you and he are riding the hobby horse. He is also riding it with Claire as well." Bender speaks for Brian.

"Little pig!" Claire says.

"That's a lie!" I exclaim.

"No I'm not! I'm not! John said I was a cherry and I said I wasn't, that's it, that's all that was said!" Brian seemed nervous. I didn't really care though. I hate when people spread rumors that aren't true.

"Well then what were you motioning to the girls for?" Bender asks him.

"You know I don't appreciate this very much, Brian." Claire says. And I can't help but agree with her.

"He is lying!" Brian exclaims.

"Oh, you weren't motioning to the girls?" Bender instigates.

"You know he's lying right?"

"Were you or were you not motioning to Claire and Mandy?"

"Yeah, but it was only, it was only because I didn't want them to know that I was a virgin, okay?" Brian hangs his head down low and I see Bender look at him. "Excuse me for being a virgin, I'm sorry."

Claire lets out a laugh. "Why didn't you want me to know you were a virgin?"

"Because it's personal business, it's my personal, private business."

"Well, Brian, it doesn't sound like you're doing any business" Bender had to add.

"Claire walks over toward the boys, and smiles at Brian, "I think it's okay for a guy to be a virgin"

Bender looks at her surprised. Brian looks at her and smiles. "You do?" he asks. Claire nods. Bender then looks over to me.

"How about you Mandy? Do you think it is okay for a guy to be a virgin?" I didn't have to think about it for long.

"I think it is perfectly fine for a guy to be a virgin." I answer. Bender looks completely surprised. I don't think he was expecting either of our responses. I decided to milk in the moment that we had Bender speechless.


	8. Chapter 8) Did I Stutter?

I am sorry for the short chapter. But I hope you enjoy it. I promise there will be some longer chapters coming soon.

Chapter 8) Did I Stutter?

It was a few minutes later. We were all in our seats getting ready to eat our lunches. I reached into my bag and pulled out a simple turkey sandwich and a small bag of chips. I looked over and saw Claire pull out what looked like a shopping bag. I could only imagine what she was about to eat.

"What's in there?" Bender sits closer to their table and tries to look in the bag.

"Guess, where's your lunch?" She asks him.

"You're wearing it"

"You're nauseating"

Bender then grabs a Coke. I watch as he tosses it over to the girl in the corner. She doesn't even look up and she grabs it with one hand. He then grabs another one and hands it over to me. I take the soda and continue to watch his and Claire's interaction. Claire then pulls out a box and I can see that she has seafood for lunch. I all of a sudden became disgusted. I hate fish.

"What's that?" Bender asks her.

"Sushi"

"Sushi?"

"Rice, uh, raw fish and seaweed." Claire explains to him.

"You won't accept a guys tongue in your mouth and you're gonna eat that?" He did have a point.

"Can I eat?"

"I don't know, give it a try" Bender looks just as disgusted as I am.

I then see Andrew pull out this large paper bag out from under the table. I watched as he pulls out three sandwiches, a family size bag of potato chips, a bag of cookies, and a carton of milk. I was surprised there was so much in that bag, but that wasn't it. He then pulls out an apple and a banana. How was he going to eat all of that food? No, where did he get all that food? Did he rob a grocery store? Bender was also staring at Andrew and he took notice.

"What's your problem?" Andrew asked. But Bender ignored him, because something even weirder was happening right behind him. The girl in the corner threw the meat that was in her sandwich. She continued to pull out pixie sticks from her bag and pouring them onto the bread of her sandwich. She then presses captain crunch on the bread as well. She then takes a bite! Like what is happening. I can feel myself slowly losing my appetite. I watch as Bender sits next to Brian to bother him.

"What are we having?" John asks Brian.

"Uh, it's your standard, regular lunch I guess"

Bender reaches into the paper bag and pulls out a thermos and puts it on the table. He points at it. "Milk?"

"Soup" Brian answers.

Bender goes back into the bag and pulls out a juice box. Brian tries to grab his lunch bag back with no evail, as Bender slaps his hand away.

"That's apple juice" Brian says.

"I can read! PB & J with the crusts cut off. Well Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch, all the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Rogers?"

"Uh, no, Mr. Johnson"

"Ahhhh"

I see Andrew and Claire smiling from the corner of my eye. Bender then stands up and moves to the middle of the aisle. "Here's my impression of life at big Bri's house."

"Son!, Yeah dad? How's your day, pal? Great Dad, how's yours? Super, say son, how'd you like to go fishing this weekend? Great Dad, but I've got homework to do. That's alright son, you can do it on the boat! Gee! Dear, isn't our son swell? Yes, Dear, isn't life swell?" He then makes the motion of the parents kissing each other, and then the father punching the mother in the face. It was funny until that last moment.

"Alright, what about your family?" Andrew asks Bender.

"Oh, mine? That's real easy" Bender responds. I all of a sudden get a pit in my stomach. I have a feeling that this is not going to be anything like happy Brian's family life. Bender begins to mock his family.

"Stupid, worthless, no good, God damned, freeloading, son of a bitch, retareded, big mouth, know it all, asshole, jerk! You forgot ugly, lazy and disrespectful" Bender mimes his father slapping his mother. "Shut up bitch! Go fix me a turkey pot pie! What about you dad? Fuck you! No, Dad, what about you? Fuck you! No, Dad, what about you? FUCK YOU!" He acts out his dad going to beat him up.

I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Watch this unfold in front of me made me feel horrible.

"Is that for real?" Brian asks.

"You wanna come over sometime?"

"That's bullshit. It's all part of your image, I don't believe a word of it." Andrew says from the front. How can he not believe this. I feel like that acting was from a personal experience not something that Bender just thought up in his head. I could tell that Bender looked hurt.

"You don't believe me?"

"No"

"No?"

"Did I stutter?" Andrew asks.

Bender walks over to Andrew and pulls up his sleeve to reveal a round burn mark on his forearm. The pit in my stomach got worse. "Do you believe this? Huh? It's about the size of a cigar. Do I stutter? You see, this is what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage." Bender backs up from the table and puts up his hands. "See I don't think that I need to sit here with you fucking dildos anymore!"

Bender walks over to a map that is on a table and throws all the maps on the floow. He climbs on top of the table that once held the maps and then jumps onto the second floor balcony. I watched as he sat down with his feet dangling and leaning his forehead on the metal bars.

"You shouldn't have said that!" Claires scolds Andrew.

"How would I know, I mean he lies about everything anyway!"

I couldn't stand sitting with these people anymore I dont get why they had to be so mean.I grabbed my lunch and made my way to the second floor. When I got to the balcony that bender was at, I sat down next to him and had my dangle over the side too.

"Hey, want my sandwich? I'm not that hungry." I ask as I hold out my sandwich towards John. He looks in my direction. He looks like he was on the verge of tears. He then grabs the sandwich and takes a bite out of it.

"I don't need your pity you know?" He says to me. I open up the bag of chips and eat one of the chips.

"Oh, I am not giving you pity. I am giving you a sandwich, that's very different." I see him smile at my failure of a joke. "I am just saying if you ever do want to talk, you can talk to me. Not to toot my own horn or anything but I am a pretty good listener."

"Thanks" Bender says softly. He looks up in my direction and we make eye contact. I didn't realize how close we were until he did look up. We were inches away from each others face. We both took a minute to just look at eachother. He looks away real quick and takes a bite out of the sandwich. "Your not that bad of a person Mandy." I couldn't help but smile. "You also aren't that bad to look at" He looks back over at me and smirks.

I feel my cheeks get red and I give him a small nudge. He lets out a small laugh. God, What was going on with me. Why was I beginning to like this boy so much? I knew he was bad news. But he was so smooth with his words and when he looked at me it felt like I was melting. We both decided to sit in comfortable silence and finish the food that we had.

Once we were done Bender looks over to me. "Hey, you want to go have some fun?"

"What do you mean fun?" I asked. My mind went into a very dirty world for a split second.

"Nothing like that, I mean I can tell you want me, but I mean more of an 'extracurricular activity'" I blushed at his words. But then I was thinking about what he could possible me.

"I thought you didn't like extracurricular activities?" I joked back at him.

"Not those kinds of activities" He grabbed my hand and pulled me up from our seated position. "Follow me" Bender was now leading me out of the library. Oh God, what kind of activity have I gotten myself into.


	9. Chapter 9) Fuck You Dick

I know I promised longer chapters. But I have to get a few smaller ones out before the longer ones. I am sorry that this one is also short.

Chapter 9) Fuck You Dick

Bender opens the doors to the library and leans out to make sure the coast was clear. To my surprise it was. What happened to Vernon? Did he leave? So much for being 'right across the hall.' Bender grabs my hand and we leave the library. "Where are we going?" I just wanted to know what was going on.

"It's a surprise." John says and then turns and gives me a smile. We are about halfway down the hallway when we see the rest of the group right behind us.

"Where are you guys going?" Brian asks from behind. But we just ignore him.

"How do you know where Vernon went?" Claire asks as she walks right next to me and Bender.

"I don't" Bender responds.

"Well then, how do you know when he'll be back?"

"I don, being bad feels pretty good huh?" He looks over to me and smiles. I can't help but notice that he is still holding my hand. I have done some thrilling things in my life time, but this, being here with him, was making my heart races extremely fast.

I hear the boys behind us talking, but I just ignore them. We turn down the next hallway over and soon we stop at a locker. By the looks of it I am guessing that it is John's. It has a noose dangling from it and a very threatening warning. He lets go of my hand and opens the locker. A makeshift guillotine comes crashing down and cuts off the tip of a shoe that was in his locker.

"Slob." Andrew remarks.

"My maid's on vacation." Bender snarks back. He then continues to shuffle through what feels like 20 bags. He finally pulls out a baggie full of what I am guessing he calls 'extracurricular activities.' But a normal person would call it marijuana. I wasn't against drugs, but I didn't know how I felt about having them in school.

"Drugs..." Brian says.

"Screw that Bender, put it back!" Andrew is fighting for him to put it away.

Bender ignores both of them and walks away. I might not have liked it being in the school building, but after how today has been I am not against taking some of the edge off. I follow after Bender. I look back and see the rest of them, they stand there for a minute until they finally follow along.

"We'll cross through the lab, and then we'll double back." Bender explains the route we are going to take.

"You better be right, if Vernon cuts us off it's your fault, asshole!" Andrew argues with him. Bender grabs my hand again and we are off down the hallways of this massive school.

As soon as we turn the corner we see Vernon with his back to us. We all run away. We thought we got away but it feels like every hallway we go down, there he is again. My heart is racing from the adrenaline and also these like 50 million flights of stairs. We finally stop for a brief second.

"Wait! Wait, hold it. Hold it! We have to go through the cafeteria" Bender explains.

This time Andrew argues with John about where we should be going. "No, the activities hall."

"Hey man, you don't know what you're talking about"

"No you don't know what you're talking about. Now, we're through listening to you, we're going this way."

Andrew walks away and Brian and Claire follow him. The quiet girl gives Bender and me a look but then she soon follows. Bender and me look at eachother and shn but we eventually reluctantly follow him. After a minute of running we run into a hall that is closed by iron gates.

"Shit!" Andrew exclaims.

"Great idea Jagoff!" Bender snaps at him.

"Fuck you!" Andrew addresses Bender. Excuse me, this was his idea.

I look over to Andrew. "Fuck you! Why didn't you listen to John?" I snapped at him.

"We're dead" Brain mumbles. I can see the look of sheer terror on his face.

"No, Just me!" Bender says.

"What do you mean?" I ask Bender. He looks me in the eyes. What was he doing? He didn't have to sacrifice himself for us. He was already on Vernon's shit list. This for sure was going to get him expelled. He squeezes my hand, in a way to tell me that everything was going to be okay. I decided to believe him.

"Get back to the library." He then looks over to Brian. "Keep your unit on this" He continues to put the bag of marijuana in Brian's underwear. He then runs off down the hallway singing about wanting to be an airborne ranger. We all book it back to the library.

As soon as we get back in we all rush to our seats. It would only be a couple of minutes before the both of them come barging into this room, and we don't need any more of us to be in trouble right now. My could feel that I was out of breath, but all I was concerned about was John. I could only imagine what was going to happen when Vernon finally catches up to him. I looked down at my hands and thought back to him holding my hand. Did he realize what he was doing? Or was he just doing it to get me thinking? Was this what he wanted? Me thinking that he likes me? Oh god, I sound like a typical girl. Looking too much into someone holding my hand.

The doors to the library wake me up from my thoughts. Vernon was livid. Bender was right in front of him. Vernon pushes him into his seat, and Bender sits down. "Get your stuff, let's go!" He looks around the room at everyone "Mr. Wiseguy here has taken it upon himself to go to the gymnasium. I'm sorry to inform you, you're going to be without his services for the rest of the day."

"B-O-O H-O-O!" Bender spells out.

"Everything's a big joke, huh Bender? The false alarm you pulled, Friday, false alarms are really funny, aren't they. What if your home, what if your family, what if your dope was on fire?"

"Impossible sir, It's in Johnson's underwear" Bender responses. I could see Brian get nervous, but then Andrew laughs.

"You think he's funny? You think this is cute? You think he's bitchin, is that it? Lemme tell you something. Look at him, he's a bum. You wanna see something funny? You go visit John Bender in five years! You'll see how God damned funny he is!" I can see John getting extremely upset. I wish I could hold his hand and tell him it was okay. I notice that I might actually be able to do just that. I lean over my table and put my hand under the table and am able to reach Bender's hand. I can tell it takes him off guard, but it looks like it calms him down a bit. I give it a squeeze and he squeezes back. Vernon looks at Bender. "What's the matter, John? You gonna cry? Let's go!"

Vernon grabs Bender's shoulder. Bender shoos him off. "Hey keep your fuckin hands off me! I expect better manners from you, Dick!" Bender stands up and begins walking out of the library he stops and puts his sunglasses right in front of Andrew. "For better hallway vision." He continues out of the library but he makes sure to push everything off the counter on the way out. I feel my heart sink in that moment. I wish I could be there for John Bender.


	10. Chapter 10) The Double Standard

I really hope you like this Chapter. Just a heads up, I might not get the chance to write a new chapter tomorrow but I will try my hardest to get one up as soon as possible! Thank you for the love!

Chapter 10) The Double Standard

We were all just sitting there in silence in the library. None of us dare speak one word with the fear that we would get in trouble. I then heard a noise that sounded like it was above me. What the heck was that noise. All of a sudden in the back of the library we hear a scream and when I looked over I saw Bender falling through the ceiling. What was he doing!? He came closer to the table's

"I forgot my pencil" He then looks over at me. But everything stops when we hear Vernon in the hallway.

"God damnit! What in God's name is going on in here?" Vernon yells from the hall. Bender quickly hides under my table. Vernon enters the library and is looking around at all of us. "What was that ruckus?" We all try to act like everything is normal.

"Uh, What ruckus?" Andrew questions.

"I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus!"

"Could you describe the ruckus, sir?" Brian asks Vernon.

"Watch your tongue young man, watch it!" As soon as Vernon says that I hear Bender under the table and he bumps his head. I start to knock on my table and so doesn't everyone else in the room, as we try to hide the fact that Bender is here. "What is that? What, what is that, what is that noise?" Vernon looks around the room. I all of a sudden feel something on my thigh. OH MY GOD! Is he doing what I think he is doing? Is he kissing my thighs! I quickly squeeze my thighs together and squish his head. But before that I let out a squeal. I pretend to cough and so doesn't everyone else around me.

"That noise? Was that the noise you were talking about?" I ask Vernon.

"No, it wasn't. That was not the noise I was talking about. Now, I may not have caught you in the act this time, but you can bet I will." The girl in the corner laughs at Vernon. "You can book on that Allison!" Oh my god she does have name! Finally, I know her name. Vernon looks over to me. Luckily he doesn't look too hard because I know he should be able to see Benders feet from under the table. "And you! I will not be made a fool of!" He turns around and starts to walk out of the library. I notice that he has a toilet seat cover stuck to his pants. I let out a soft laugh. Everyone else laughs as well. Bender starts getting out from under the desk. I start slapping him as hard as I possibly can.

"It was an accident" He says lying through his teeth. I know it wasn't an accident.

"You're and asshole!" I say giving him one last push.

"So sue me, and don't act like you didn't like it!" He gives me a wink and walks over to Brian. "So, Ahab, Kybo Mein Doobage." Brian reaches into his pants and gives Bender his marajuana. Bender turns to start walking away. He stops at my table. "Sweets, you coming along?"He holds out his hand and I grabbed it and we walk to the back of the library together. I hear Andrew yelling from a far.

"Yo wastoid, you're not gonna blaze up in here!" We choose to ignore him and we sit down at this circle of chairs. I watch as he opens the bag and grabs the papers and begins to work his magic. Soon Claire joins us. Then Briain. Then, finally, Andrew. I don't think Allison was going to join us. Before I know it a cloud of smoke is engulfing us.

A few minutes later its me, Bender, Claire, and Brian sitting on couches that were close together. Bender is sitting on the arm of the couch and I lean my head on his leg near by. Right next to me is Claire and Brian is sitting on an ottoman that is close by. Bender reaches over me and lights the joint for Claire. She takes a hit but starts coughing tons. Brian and me laugh at her. Brian then takes a hit but then when he exhales he eats the smoke. He then puts on this weird voice.

"Chicks, cannot hold their smoke! That's what it is!"

Claire looks completely out of it when she says, "Do you know how popular I am? I'm so popular, everybody loves me so much at this school"

"Poor baby" Bender says. Brian waves Claire over to him but then he falls off the ottoman. I all of a sudden hear this extremely loud music. I see Andrew come barging out of one of the offices that was full of smoke and he begins to dance around on the second floor of the library. He takes off his sweatshirt and keeps jumping. We all give him an applause as he goes back into the office and closes the door. He then lets out one of the loudest screams I have ever heard and the glass to the office shatters. We are in so much trouble!

About ten minutes later everyone started to wind down from the high that we once had. Andrew had come out of the office and was sitting on a chair near Brian and Allison. They were having their own conversation. I was sitting with Claire and Bender. They both had emptied out their pockets and bags. I decided to take this time to go through my bag and actually clean it out. I didn't know I had so much stuff in here until I really started going through it. I looked up and saw Bender cleaning his teeth with Claire's makeup brush. I looked over to Claire and se was going through Bender's wallet. Her and me both looked surprised at what we saw. He had a bunch of photos of girls. Claire was the one that said something.

"Are all these your girlfriends?" She asked.

Bender looked over at the both of us. "Some of them"

"What about the others?"

"Well, some I consider my girlfriends and some, I just consider." He explained.

"Consider what?"

"Whether or not, I wanna hang out with them"

"You don't believe in just one guy, one girl?" She questions him. This whole conversation was making me have knots in my stomach.

"Do you?" Bender asks Claire.

"Yeah, that's the way it should be."

"Well, not for me" His response made my stomach sink to the floor. I looked down at my bag and I could feel emotions fill up inside of me. Why was I getting so upset I just met this kid. It's not like I expected him to like me back. But with his actions all day I thought there was something there with him and I. I hear Claire trying to get more answers out of him.

"Why not?" He doesn't answer her.

"How come you got so much shit in your purse?"

"How come you got so many girlfriends?"

"I asked you first" Bender insisted.

From the corner of my eye I see Claire shrug. "I dunno, I guess I never throw anything away."

"Neither do I" Bender finally answers her. This was not the response I wanted. I mean I don't know what kind of response I did want. I wanted him to not have this many girlfriends. I felt tears starting to well up in my eyes. I decided to take myself out of this conversation. I quickly jump up and grab my bag and walk to the other side of the library and hide in between some stacks of books.

Why was I so stupid for even thinking he would like me, and just me. Him and me didn't really know each other, what was I even thinking. I was mad and upset because I wanted to get to know him. I wanted to know what was going on in his mind. I wanted to be the person that he could lean on. Yet, that was never going to happen. I wasn't going to be that girl was I? The tears were coming down my cheeks. I sat down on the floor with my back to the wall nearby. I hugged my backpack and cried. I heard footsteps coming closer to me. I quickly wiped away my tears and I looked up and saw Claire. I was shocked, but I had a feeling she knew why I was upset. She might be popular but she wasn't dumb.

"You okay?" She asks me as she sits next to me. I can't manage to answer her. I just look over at her. Oh no here comes a second wave of tears. Claire quickly takes me into a hug. I am not going to lie but I was glad she was here. I am glad that I had someone here for me. "It's okay, don't listen to him, he is a stupid boy that doesn't know what he wants." She pulls away from me and looks me in the face. "You are gorgeous and caring, he doesn't know what he is missing okay? There is no need to cry over him. He doesn't deserve your is an idiot that doesn't know what he is saying. I have been watching you guys all day. He does have some type of feelings for you." Her words were comforting, but how could she know that he likes me.

"How can you know he likes me?" She gives me a look with her eyebrows raised.

"Mandy, anyone with a brain could see the connection you and him have. I have been watching and the way he looks at you is not the way that he looks at other girls. Now stop crying and let's go see with that idiot is doing." I gave her a laugh. She was right, he was a boy and he was an idiot sometimes. We both stand up. She begins to walk away but I stop her.

"Hey Claire."

She turns around to me, "Yeah?"

I pull her into a hug and whisper, "Thank you."

I her her say a mumbled. "You're welcome." We leave from the books and go back to join the group.

When we get back to the group everyone is sitting on the floor in a circle. Claire and me join in. Claire sits against a pillar that is across from John and I sit cross legged right in between them.

"What are we doing?" Claire asks.

"We are asking questions," Andrew says.

"Oh, I got one. What would you do for a million bucks?" Claire is directly asking Andrew.

"What would I do for a million bucks? Well, I guess I'd do as little as I had to" His response was boring.

"That's boring" Claire scolds him.

"Well, how am I supposed to answer?"

"The idea is to like search your min for the absolute limit. Like, uh, would you drive to school naked?"

"Um, uh, would I have to get out of the car?"

"Of course"

"In the spring, or winter?"

"It doesn't matter, spring" Claire looked annoyed that he isn't answering the question.

"In front of the school or in the back of the school?"

"Either one"

"Yes" Finally an answer from him.

Allison looks over at Claire. "I'd do that!" She exclaims. Everyone looks back over to her. "I'll do anything sexual, I don't need a million dollars to do it either." I can't completely believe her. That can't be true.

"You're lying" Claire says to Allison.

"I already have, I've done just about everything there is except a few things that are illegal, I'm a nymphomaniac!" This can't be real. I have a feeling that Allison is lying. She doesn't give me the vibe of someone that has done a bunch of stuff.

"Lie" Claire says in a flat tone.

"Are your parents aware of this?" Brian asks Allison.

"The only person I told was my shrink."

"And what'd he do when you told him?" Andrew asks her

"He nailed me" She gives all of us a smirk. Now I knew she had to be lying. I'm not a shrink, but I am pretty sure that it is against their rules to fuck their patients. I think I am the only one that picks up that she is lying though.

"Very nice" Claire scoffs.

"I don't think that from a legal standpoint what he did can be construed as rape since I paid him."

"He's an adult!" Claire is starting to get very angry with her.

"Yeah, he's married too!"

"Do you have any idea how completely gross that is?"

"Well, the first few times"

"First few times? You mean he did it more than once?" Claire has a look of complete disgust on her face.

"Sure" Allison is calm.

"Are you crazy?"

"Obviously she's crazy if she's screwing her shrink" Brian says to Claire.

"Have you ever done it?" Allsion now asks Claire.

"I don't even have a psychiatrist." I can tell that Claire is trying t0o avoid the question.

"Have you ever done it with a normal person?" Allison clarifies.

"Now, didn't we already cover this?"

Bender speaks up from the other pillar. "You never answered the question"

"Look, I'm not gonna discuss my private life with total strangers." Claire was annoyed, but I could agree with her. I wouldn't feel comfortable discussing my sexual life with people I didn't know that well.

"It's kind of a double-edged sword, isn't it?" Allison asks.

"What?" Claire looks over at her.

"Well, if you say you haven't, you're a prude. If you say you have, you're a slut. It's a trap. You want to but you can't but when you do you wish you didn't right?" Allison's words were completely true. She was right, it was a double standard.

"Wrong" Claire says.

"Or, are you a tease?" Allison questions Claire.

"She's a tease" Andrew states. Why is everyone ganging on Claire. She doesn't deserve this.

"Oh why don't you just forget it" Claire says to try to stop the teasing.

"You're a tease and you know it, all girls are teases!" Andrew exclaims.

Bender looks over to Andrew and addresses him directly. "She's only a tease if what she does gets you hot"

"I don't do anything!" Claire is getting upset.

"That's why you're a tease" Allison smirks.

"Okay, lemme ask you a few questions." Claire is trying to flip the tables.

"I've already told you everything." Allison says getting defensive. I knew she was lying, and I can tell by the way she is acting right now.

"No. Doesn't it bother you to sleep around without being in love. I mean don't you want any respect?" Claire had a point.

"I don't screw to get respect. That's the difference between you and me."

"No the only difference, I hope."

"Face it, you're a tease." Bender says to Claire.

"Will you guys stop antagonizing her!? Just leave her alone" I say say practically screaming. I couldn't watch them be this mean to her. Bender looks over to me. I knew that I had just made it so attention was now on me.

"What about you Mandy? Are you a tease?" Bender asks. He has a smug look on his face. I realized that I was still upset from the conversation earlier. Claire was right. He was an idiot, I wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction of seeing me be upset.

"Wouldn't you like to know? You would be lucky if I even gave you the time of day." I snapped back. Bender looked confused over at me. But I still had more to say. "Sorry, some of us don't have a shit ton of girlfriends, like some others here. You're the only 'slut' in this library." He gave me a look of confusion, and then I looked him in the eyes. I also noticed that there was a bit of hurt. Had I gone too far? I shook off that feeling.

"I am not a tease." I heard Claire whisper under her breath.

Bender looks back over at Claire. "Sure you are. You said it yourself sex is a weapon, you use it to get respect."

"No, I never said that, she twisted my words around." Claire says getting defensive

"Oh then what do you use it for?"

"I don't use it period!" I could see tears forming in Claire's eyes.

"Oh, are you medically frigid or is it psychological?" Bender continues to ask Claire questions.

"I didn't mean it that way! You guys are putting words into my mouth!"

"Well if you'd just answer the question..."

"Why don't you just answer the question?" Brian asks.

"Be honest." Andrew says.

"No big deal" Bender adds.

"Answer the question, Claire!" Andrew pesters her.

"Talk to us!" Bender says. It feels like everyone is talking at once.

"Come on, answer the question." Andrew and Brian say at the same time.

"It's easy, it's only one question." Bender adds to the montage of words.

"NO! I NEVER DID IT!" Claire screams from the top of her lungs with tears in her eyes. The whole room goes silent, and I instantly feel bad for Claire.


	11. Chapter 11) Sincerely Yours

This is the last chapter following the actual script. I do plan on continuing this story. I don't know how long I will continue it but we shall find out. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that had read this story so far.

Chapter 11) Sincerely Yours

We all sat there in silence for a minute. I was shocked that she gave into peer pressure that was surrounding her.

"I never did it either, I'm not a nymphomaniac, I'm a compulsive liar." Allison says with a cheeky grin on her face.

"You are such a bitch! You did that on purpose just to fuck me over!" Claire yelled at Allison. She had every right to be upset, Allison sat there and pushed Claire to the edge.

"I would do it you love someone it's okay." Allsion says. I think she is trying to defuse the tense situation, but I don't think it is going to work.

"I can't believe you, you're so weird. You don't say anything all day and then when you open your mouth...you unload all these tremendous lies all over me!"

"She has a right to be upset. You all did just attack her all at once." I said trying to stand up for Claire. She looked over and gave me a small smile.

"You're just pissed off because she got you to admit something you didn't want to admit to" Andrew directs towards Claire.

"Okay, fine, but that doesn't make it any less bizarre." Claire did have a point. The one time Allison has a full conversation with us, it is to get Claire to admit information of her personal life.

"What's bizarre? I mean we're all pretty bizarre! Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all." Andrew also has a point. I had my own secrets, but I have just been good at hiding them.

"How are you bizarre?" Claire looks at him doubtful.

Allison is quick to answer for him. "He can't think for himself." She gives him a look. Like she knew things about Andrew. Was there something going on between the two of them and I just haven't noticed it.

" She's right. Do you guys know what, uh, what I did to get in here? I taped Larry Lester's buns together." I had heard about that, but I didn't know that it was Andrew that did that.

"That was you?" Brian asks.

"Yeah, you know him?"

Brian nods his head, "Yeah, I know him."

"Well then you know how hairy he is, right? Well, when they pulled the tape off, most of his hair came off and some, some skin too." I give him a look of disappointment. I can tell from his face though that he feels bad about what has happened. He continues to tell his story. "And the bizarre thing is, is that I did it for my old man...I tortured this poor kid, because I wanted him to think that I was cool. He's always going off about, you know, when he was in school...all the wild things he used to do. And I got the feeling that he was disappointed that I never cut loose on anyone, right...So, I'm...I'm sitting in the locker room, and I'm taping up my knee. And Larry's undressing a couple lockers down from me. Yeah...he's kinda... he's kinda skinny, weak. And I started thinking about my father, and his attitude about weakness. And the next thing I knew, I uh, I jumped on top of him and started wailing on him...And my friends, they just laughed and cheered me on. And afterwards, when I was sittin' in Vernon's office, all I could think about was Larry's father. And Larry having' to go home and...and explain what happened to him. And the humiliation...fucking humiliation he mustuv felt. It must've been unreal...I mean." Andrew has tears in his eyes. " I mean, how do you apologize for something like that? There's no way...it's all because of me and my old man. Oh God, I fucking hate him! He's like this...he's like this mindless machine that I can't even relate to anymore..."Andrew, you've got to be number one! I won't tolerate any losers in this family...Your intensity is for shit! Win. Win! WIN!" You son of a bitch! You know, sometimes, I wish my knee would give...and I wouldn't be able to wrestle anymore. And he could forget all about me."

I didn't notice it until now, but I also had tears in my eyes. I felt bad for Andrew and what he had to go through at home, and the way that it made him act in person. "I think your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling." Bender says from his spot in the circle. Andrew lets out a laugh. I then hear Brian starting to talk.

"It's like me, you know, with my grades...like, when I, when I step outside myself kinda, and when I, when I look in at myself you know? And I see me and I don't like what I see, I really don't."

"What's wrong with you? Why don't you like yourself?" Claire asks him.

"'Cause I'm stupid...'cause I'm failing shop. See we had this assignment, to make this ceramic elephant, and um...and we had eight weeks to do it and we're s'posed ta, and it was like a lamp, and when you pull the trunk the light was s'posed to go on...my light didn't go on, I got a F on it. Never got a F in my life... When I signed up, you know, for the course I mean. I thought I was playing it real smart, you know. 'Cause I thought, I'll take shop, it'll be such an easy way to maintain my grade point average." I scoffed. He thought it was going to be easy? Shop actually takes some smarts.

"Why'd you think it'd be easy?" Bender asks him. I could tell that he was annoyed.

"Have you seen some of the dopes that take shop?" Brian asks.

" I take shop...you must be a fuckin' idiot!"

"I'm a fuckin' idiot because I can't make a lamp?"

"No, you're a genius because you can't make a lamp." I could sense the anger in Benders voice.

"What do you know about Trigonometry?"

"I could care less about Trigonometry."

"Bender, did you know without Trigonometry there'd be no engineering?" Brian questions Bender. I don't get why these boys were arguing over something that was so stupid.

"Without lamps, there'd be no light!" Bender says back. Okay this conversation was going nowhere and it wasn't needed. Why are they arguing over something so miniscule.

"Okay so neither one of you is any better than the other one," I say to both of them. They stop their pointless arguing.

"I can write with my toes! I can also eat, brush my teeth." Allison adds to the conversation. I was so confused on what was going on. She was so random, but she did know how to diffuse this situation.

"With you feet?" Claire asks.

"Play Heart & Soul on the piano." Allison adds.

"I can make spaghetti!" Brain says.

"I can, uh, tape all your buns together." Andrew jokes.

" I can speak latin, Its weird but I can do it." I say trying to add to the conversation.

" I wanna see what Claire can do." Bender says.

"I can't do anything." Claire insists.

"Now, everybody can do something."

"There's one thing I can do, no forget it, it's way too embarrassing."

"You ever seen Wild Kingdom?" Bender asks. "I mean that guy's been doing that show for thirty years."

Claire finally gives in. "Okay, but you have to swear to God you won't laugh. I can't believe I'm actually doing this." She takes out a lipstick and opens it. She places it in between he breasts and applies the lipstick from her cleavage. She lifts her head and the lipstick is perfectly applied. I do have to admit I was impressed. Me and everyone else claps. But then I hear Bender clapping sarcastically and slow.

" All right, great! Where'd you learn to do that?" Andrew asks Claire.

"Camp, seventh grade." She says as she is putting away the lipstick.

"That was great Claire, my image of you is totally blown." Bender says sarcastically. He is being an asshole. He needs to watch himself.

I slap him, "You're a shit! Don't do that to her. You swore to God you wouldn't laugh!" I screamed at him. He was being so rude. He looks over to me.

"Am I laughing?"

"You fucking prick!" Andrew says, also standing up for Claire.

"What do you care what I think, anyway? I don't even count, right? I could disappear forever and it wouldn't make any difference...I may as well not even exist at this school, remember?" Bender was throwing Andrews words back at him. Yes, Andrew did say that, but John was being a complete douche bag to Claire right now. He turns to Claire. "And you, don't like me anyway"

"You know, I have just as many feelings as you do and it hurts just as much when somebody steps all over them!" I could tell Claire was getting tears in her eyes and she was about to start crying.

"God, you're so pathetic!" John was getting very angry with her at this point. "Don't you ever...ever! Compare yourself to me! Okay? You got everything, and I got shit! Fuckin' Rapunzel, right? School would probably fucking shut down if you didn't show up! "Queenie isn't here!" I like those earrings Claire." He was taking this too far.

"Shut up." Claire mumbles.

"Are those real diamonds, Claire?" Why did he have to take it this far.

"Shut up!" Claire was now getting angry.

"I bet they are. Did you work for the money for those earrings?" He doesn't know how to be nice does he?

"Shut your mouth!" Claire is kicking him to try to get him to stop.

"Or did your daddy buy those?"

Claire is now crying, "Shut up!" he screams at him.

"I bet he bought those for you! I bet those are a Christmas gift! Right? You know what I got for Christmas this year? It was a banner fuckin' year at the old Bender family! I got a carton of cigarettes. The old man grabbed me and said "Hey! Smoke up Johnny!"" He notices Claire's tears. "Okay, so go home'n cry to your daddy, don't cry here, okay?" He needs to be put in his place. I lean over and slap him across the face.

"Will you stop it! Leave her alone! She doesn't deserve you being a fucking asshole to her! Just leave her the fuck alone!" I yelled at him. He looks at me but doesn't say anything back. His hand is to his face from where I slapped him.

"My God, are we gonna be like our parents?" Andrews asks.

"Not me, ever." Claire answers.

"It's unavoidable, it just happens." Allsion says.

"What happens?"

"When you grow up, your heart dies." Allison seems somber. But I feel she is right. I can see myself in my mother everyday, and it makes me scared.

"Who cares?" Bender asks.

"I care."Allsion looks like she is about to cry.

"I care too." I added. I also felt tears forming in my eyes. Bender looked over at me. He looked like he actually cared how I felt about the situation.

"Um, I was just thinking, I mean. I know it's kind of a weird time, but I was just wondering, um, what is gonna happen to us on Monday? When we're all together again? I mean I consider you guys my friends, I'm not wrong, am I?" Brian asked the group. I have to admit I hadn't thought about this until now. I felt like I would still be friends with them. I was new here so I didn't have many friends, and I had gotten to know them pretty well just in this one Saturday.

"No" Andrew answers the question.

"So, so on Monday, what happens?" Brian asks

"Are we still friends, you mean? If we're friends now, that is?" Claire asks him to clarify.

"Yeah."

"Do you want the truth?" I had a feeling Claire was about to say something that was going to be mean.

"Yeah, I want the truth."

"I don't think so." Claire seems somber from this answer. I felt the tears coming again in my eyes. I was hoping that some way, we all can be friends after this, but I guess I was wrong.

"Well, do you mean all of us or just John?" Allison ask Claire.

"With all of you." Claire looks over at me. She can tell that I am upset, but she doesn't change her answer.

"That's a real nice attitude, Claire!" Andrew snaps at her.

"Oh, be honest, Andy...if Brian came walking up to you in the hall on Monday, what would you do? I mean picture this, you're there with all the sports. I know exactly what you'd do, you'd say hi to him and when he left you'd cut him all up so your friends wouldn't think you really liked him!" She was trying to justify her answer, but it wasn't working.

"No Way!" Andrew says. I feel like he really means it though. I could see, come Monday, I'm walking down the halls and I see Andrew and we mutually say Hi to each other. I feel like he wouldn't stoop that low.

"Okay, what if I or Mandy came up to you?" Allison asks Claire.

Claire looks upset to have to answer the question truthfully. "Same exact thing." At that moment I feel a tear on my cheek. Clair had been there for me, and I had been there for her, but on Monday all of that was going to be different. I thought, maybe just maybe I had made some sort of friend finally at this school. I look over at Bender and he sees that I am upset. He then addresses Claire.

"You are a bitch!" He yells at her. I can tell that he was getting very angry with her.

"Why? 'Cause I'm telling the truth, that makes me a bitch?"

"No! 'Cause you know how shitty that is to do to someone! And you don't got the balls to stand up to your friends and tell 'em that you're gonna like who you wanna like!" He was furious.

"Okay, what about you, you hypocrite! Why don't you take Allison to one of your heavy metal vomit parties? Or take Brian out to the parking lot at lunch to get high? What about Andy for that matter, what about me? What about Mandy? What would your friends say if you were walking down the hall with her. They'd laugh their asses off and you'd probably tell them you were doing it with her so they'd forgive you for being seen with her." I was completely crying right now. Why did I have to be brought into this conversation. After what Claire told me earlier. This just makes me more upset, because was she telling me the truth, or just saying things to make me feel better? I wanted to leave so badly.

" Don't you ever talk about my friends! You don't know any of my friends, you don't look at any of my friends and you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends so you just stick to the things you know, shopping, nail polish, your father's BMW and your poor-rich-drunk mother in the Carribean!" He yelled at her again.

"Shut up!" Claire is now crying too.

"And as far as being concerned about what's gonna happen when Mandy and I walk down the hallways at school, you can stay out of it. It is none of you business. Just bury you head in the sand, and wait for your fuckin prom!" This comment made me feel a bit better. It felt like he was sticking up for me. I still couldn't help but cry, but I did feel some sort of comfort.

"I hate you!" Claire sneered at him.

"Yeah? Good!" There was silence, then Brian speaks up.

"Then I assume me, Allison, and Mandy are better people than you guys, huh? Us weirdos." He turns to Allsion. "Do you, would you do that to me?"

"I don't have any friends." She responds.

"Well if you did?"

"No...I don't think the kind of friends I'd have would mind." Brian then looks over in my direction.

"Would you ever do that to me or Allison?"

"No, after today, all of you are my friends, in my mind anyways." I wiped away a stray tear.

"I just wanna tell, each of you, that I wouldn't do that...I wouldn't and I will not! 'Cause I think that's real shitty." Brain was getting visually upset.

"Your friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us." Claire speaks up. Brina and me both let out a laugh.

"You're so conceited, Claire. You're so conceited. You're so, like, full of yourself, why are you like that?"

Claire is crying again. I don't get why though. She is the one that is being rude. "I'm not saying that to be conceited! I hate it! I hate having to go along with everything my friends say!"

"Well then why do you do it?" I ask Claire.

She looks over at me. Then she addresses everyone in the group. " I don't know, I don't...you don't understand..you don't. You're not friends with the same kind of people that Andy and I are friends with! You know, you just don't understand the pressure that they can put on you!" Brian has a shocked expression on his face.

" I don't understand what? You think I don't understand pressure, Claire? Well fuck you! Fuck you!" He hides his face in his sleeve but I can tell that he is crying. "Know why I'm here today? Do you? I'm here because Mr. Ryan found a gun in the locker."

I was stunned. My mind started going to the worst of the worst situations. I then realized that we didn't really know much about each other.

"Why'd you have the gun in your locker?" Andrew asks Brian.

"I tried. You pull the fuckin' trunk on it and the light's s'posed to go on...and it didn't go on, I mean, I..." Brian didn't really answer the question. He was avoiding it.

Andrew asks again, "What's the gun for Brian?"

"Just forget it"

"You brought it up, man."

" I can't have an F, I can't have it and I know my parents can't have it! Even if I aced the rest of the semester, I'm still only a B. And everything's ruined for me!" My heart goes out to him. I had times in my life where I felt that type of low, but I was never pushed that far to even get my hands on a gun.

"Oh Brian" Claire says.

"So I considered my options, you know?" Brian says.

"No, killing yourself is not an option." I say calmly to Brian.

"Well, I didn't do it, did I? No, I don't think so."

"It was a handgun?" Allsion asks him.

"No, it was a flare gun, went off in my locker."

"Really?" Andrew asks and then he lets out a laugh. I was confused.

"It's not funny." Brian says. Soone everyone starts to laugh, even me. It was a pretty sad, but funny situation. Soon Brian is even laughing. "Yeas it is, fucking elepahnt was destroyed."

"You wanna know what I did to get in here?" Allsion asks. We all look over to her. I was curious. "Nothing, I didn't have anything better to do." I started to laugh with everyone else. That is pretty comical. "You're laughing at me," She says.

"No." Says Andrew. But then Allsion starts to laugh.

"Yeah you are!" Allsion says in between her laughs. After everyone lets out their laughs, Bender looks over to me.

"What about you Mandy? I think you are the only one we don't know about. What did you do to end up in this wonderful Saturday detention?"

"You guys know Mr. Ryan, this history teacher? Well we all know that he is an a-hole right? Well, I don't appreciate A-holes. So, on wednesday, he was talking about something but then for some reason he decided to talk about his personal opinions about a topic. He was getting out of hand so I asked him, 'Are you always so stupid or is today a special occasion?' And as I was leaving the classroom, I might have flipped him the bird." I say chuckling thinking back to that day. He was such an asshole and he deserved that.

Everyone seemed shocked that I said something like that to a teacher. I know why. I am a shy person most of the time but if you push me over the edge I am like a loose cannon. I just couldn't help it. Soon everyone is laughing again, because let's be honest, Mr. Ryan deserved it.

Brian gets up from the circle and goes into one of the offices. Soon, we hear music playing, we all start dancing around the library. On tables, on the second floor, just everywhere. We were free for those few moments. Nothing was holding us back. It was the best couple of minutes ever!

I looked up at the clock and realized that it was 3:15. I went and grabbed Bender. I don't think he realized the time. "Hey, you have to get going, if Vernon finds you here, you are for sure dead meat."

"I guess you are right, here come with me I am going to need some help." He grabs my hand as we go to the second floor. I watched as he climbed on a table and opened up the duct in the wall. "Hey" John looks down at me. "I just wanted to say, that on monday, I would say hi to you. Also, I had a good time with you this Saturday, thank you."

Was John Bender saying thank you? "Thank you? Are you going soft on me?"

"I'm not going soft, hell no. and you should appreciate the 'thank you' those only come along every ten years." He laughs and I let out a laugh as well. I then look up at him, and there is silence between us. Our eyes meet, it all of a sudden felt like there was a magnet between the two of us. I started to get closer to him, and he started to lean down, but then he turned around real quick. He had a nervous look on his face. "Hey see you at 4, sweets."

I felt embarrassed. Were we going to kiss just then or was that just my imagination. I decided to ignore it. "Yeah see you at 4, troublemaker." He smirked and climbed into the duct. I joined the group again.

They were all sitting on the railing just waiting for the time to go by faster. Claire broke the silence. "Brian?"

"Yeah?" Brina answered.

"Are you gonna write your paper?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it's kinda a waste for all of us to write our paper, don't you think?" Claire did have a point.

"Oh, but that's what Vernon wants us to do."

"True, but I think we'd all kinda say the same thing." Again another good point from Claire.

"You just don't want to write your paper...Right? "

"True, but, you're the smartest, right?"

I could tell that this flattery was getting to Brian. "Oh, well."

"We trust you." I say to Brian. He looks over at all of us and we all nod in agreement.

"Alright, I'll do it." Brian finally agrees.

"Great." Claire then looks over at Allison and then me, then back at Allison. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Allison asks. Claire is practically dragged me and Allison with her.

"Yeah, Claire where are we going?" I ask for myself.

We move to the back of the library and Claire empties out her makeup bag. She then pushes back Allison's hair and starts to do her makeup. I do have to admit she had a way to really highlight someone's assets. "Mandy, can you go in my bag and grab the white top I have in there?" Claire asks me.

"Yeah." I start rummaging through her bag and I finally find the top she is talking about. "Here" I say as I hand over the top to Claire.

"Thanks." She takes the shirt. "You know you really do look a lot better without all that black shit on your eyes."

"Hey, I like that black shit." Allison says.

"This looks a lot better, look up."

"Please, why are you being so nice to me?" Allison asks. I just stand by and watch Claire work her magic. I had to admit that Allison was starting to look like a completely different person.

"Because you're letting me." Claire puts on what I am guessing the finishing touches. Allison then goes to change into the white blouse. Claire and me go back to join the boys. "Hey Mandy, I just want to say sorry about what I said earlier. I was just very upset and I was speaking in the moment. I shouldn't have brought you up in that argument with John. That kid just really gets under my skin and I can't stand it. I just knew that mentioning you was going to get him upset, so that's why I did it, and I just want to apologize."

I was happy that Claire was apologizing. "Thank you, and I forgive you." I thought about Monday. I really hope that the conversation earlier was able to sway Claire, because I really wouldn't mind being her friend. All of a sudden the doors from the room Allison was changing in open up and she walks out. She looks completely different. Her hair is pushed back and you can see her face. She was gorgeous. The boys look up and see her. Allison walks right up to Andrew. He looks like he is in shock.

" What happened to you?" Andrew asks her.

"Why? Claire did it! What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, it's just so different. I can see your face."

"Is that good or bad?" Allison asks him concerned.

"It's good!"

Seeing them makes my heart melt. They were so cute, and I could see them being with each other after this Saturday. It dawned on me that I had some unfinished business to take care of.

I leave the library and start to walk the halls cautiously. I was looking for any sign of life. As I turned the corner I see that the light was on in a supply closet. I opened the door with the hopes that I found what I was searching for. When I opened the door I wasn't disappointed. I found John Bender on what looked like a spare desk. He looked up at me.

"You lost?" He asks. I just smile at him, and he smiles back. I swallowed the lump that was in my throat. I walked closer to him and it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. I was now inches away from Bender. His eyes were still locked on mine. I decided I had to go for it. I leaned forward. And I closed my eyes, before I knew it my lips met his. I felt him reciprocate the kiss. I felt butterflies in my stomach. This is what I had been waiting to do for what feels like ever. He breaks the kiss.

"Why'd you do that?" He asks.

"Because I knew you wouldn't" I smile at him. I did have one question that I want answered. "Am I just a girl you would just consider? Or..?"

He leans in and gives me a kiss. This one I lean into, and it felt like I was on cloud nine. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He again broke the kiss. "Mandy, no. You are different than any other girl I have ever met." I give him a quick kiss. That was the answer I was hoping for. I quickly left the closet, before I got caught.

As I was walking back to the library I could feel that my cheeks were beat red. This had been the best Saturday that I had had in a long time. When I got back to the library we only had two minutes left, so I took my seat and waited.

Before I knew it all six of us were walking down the hallway together. I was holding Benders hand the whole way. Allison was holding Andrews, and we all had huge smiles on our faces. We pass Carl on the way out.

"See ya Brian" Carl says.

"Hey Carl" Brian recipricates.

"See you next Saturday." Bender adds.

"You bet!"

We all leave the school and split off into our own ways. Brian waves as he gets into his parents car. Claire does the same and they drive off. I see Allison and Andrew share a kiss before Allison gets into her car. I was so happy that they found each other during this detention. I look over to Bender.

"You walking home?" He asks.

"Yeah, I don't live that far away."

"Want to walk together?" I squeeze his hand as a yes. We begin to walk through the football field. I look up at John. I swear this is the happiest he has been all day. I couldn't help myself. I stood on my tippy toes and gave him a kiss on his cheek. He looked down at me and then forward again. He then shot his arm up in a fist. Best Saturday Ever!

Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, a rebel, and a criminal. Does that answer your question?

Sincerely yours,

The Breakfast Club


	12. Chapter 12) Stubbie’s Party

Chapter 12) Stubbie's Party

I walked into my house to silence. My mom wasn't home she had gone to visit family for the weekend. So, I had the whole house to myself. I grab a snack from the kitchen and then I went into the living room and sat on the couch. I turned the TV on but I wasn't paying attention to it. All I could think about was today, and the walk home I just had. Was this a dream, was this real. I pinched myself to make sure that everything that just happened was in fact true. I laid back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. I thought back to just a few minutes ago on the walk home.

I was walking right next to John Bender. Of all people, him. It was crazy, but after what had happened to all of us today I wasn't that surprised. We had been talking about the day and just enjoying each others company. Then he looked over to me.

"Hey, so you know how they mentioned that Stubbie was having a party tonight? Well, I was thinking about crashing it and I didn't know if you planned on going. I mean it would be cool if you showed up. But it's okay if you don't."

I smiled. Was this his way of asking to hang out with me outside of Saturday detention. "Maybe I will stop by." I replied to him. He smiled at me but then looked forward again.

"Cool."

We continued to walk and talk, but then we eventually came up to my house. "Well, this is my house."

"I guess I'll talk to you later." He says. I reach into my bag and pull out a pen. I grab his hand and pull up the sleeve of his shirt. I write my number on his arm. He looks down at the digits on his forearm.

"Call me later, sweets." I say with a little bit of sass. I leaned up and give him a kiss on the cheek and I walk through my front door. As I close the door behind me I felt the blush on my cheeks. And that is how I ended up here. On my couch thinking about what the hell I was going to wear tonight!

I went upstairs to my bedroom. I walked in and realized how much of a pigsty I lived in. My clothes were everywhere, my bed wasn't made, and I had makeup everywhere. God, I really needed to clean, but I didn't have time for that. I needed to find something to wear. Ran over to my hamper and I started to through clothes everywhere. I had to have something to wear. Everything I pulled out either was not right, or it smelled horrible. I shuffled through some clothes that I had on my bed and I found my skin tight, black pants. Those could work, but I needed a top. I shuffled through a few more piles of clothes before I finally laid on my bed ready to admit defeat. I had nothing for clothes. Then I got an idea.

I walked down the hall to my mothers room. I went in and it was perfect. It was clean, and pristine. Like no one lived there. Her perfumes were in a perfect line on her dresser, and she had jewelry laid out perfectly next to each other on the other side. I walked over to her closet. I really hope she had something in here. I opened it up and all I saw was work clothes. I didn't need a blazer. I needed a top! I was about to cut my losses when I looked up and I saw a piece of black fabric on the shelf above me. I grabbed it and pulled it down. I unfolded the garment and my jaw dropped. It was perfect. It was a black top with a big neckline, so it made it off the shoulders. I ran back into my bedroom to try it on.

I pulled the shirt on over my head. It fits perfectly, not too tight, but not too loose. It draped perfectly. I put on my pants, and put my converse back on. I didn't want to be too dressy. I then found my light wash denim jacket and put that on over it. I looked in my mirror and smiled. It was perfect. All of a sudden I heard the phone ringing. My heart skipped a beat. Was it who I thought it was?

I ran down the stairs and grabbed the phone. I took a deep breath and started to speak. "Hello?"

"Hi, honey, I am just calling to check up on you." My heart sank for a brief second. I am not going to lie I was disappointed.

"Hi mom. I am fine. How is everything with you?"

"It's good, I just also wanted to call to tell you that I will be home tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay, I will see you tomorrow then." I was trying to rush the conversation. I didn't want to miss it if I did get a phone call.

"Wow, trying to rush me off the phone, huh?" She did have a way to tell when I didn't want to talk. "Okay, well I will see you tomorrow. I love you! Bye."

"Love you, bye." I quickly hung up the phone.

I went back upstairs and decided to put on some makeup. I put a little bit of mascara and liner on my eyes. I put on a gloss and called it good. When I looked over at the clock I realized it was 7pm. I know the party started at 8, so I had to get going here soon. I ran my brush through my hair and then gave it a shake to make sure it didn't look too perfect. I turned off my light and I was out the door.

I turned right down a side street and when I did I saw lights coming from a house a few doors down. I could only guess that, that was the party I was looking for. I continued to walk closer to the house. It was huge and I started to hear music coming from the house. This was definitely the place that I needed to be. I walked up to the front door and walked right in. When I did, I noticed that the whole school seemed to be here. The preps, the athletes, the nerds, the artists, the weirdos, the burnouts, etc. Everyone! I looked around and saw Claire with a group of her friends. She noticed me and I gave her a smile and she smiled back. I knew this wasn't the time for her to introduce me to her friends. I walked further into the house and found the living room. In there I found the athletes and I found Andrew, and he was with Allison. His arm was around her and they seemed happy. Allison waved over to me with a smile. I waved back. And continued to walk.

I was walking into the dinning room when I felt someone tapped my shoulder. I looked behind me and it was Brian. "Hey, Mandy. I didn't know you were coming to the party."

"Me either, It was a last minute decision." I smiled over at him. "Hey, have you seen John here? I was supposed to meet him." I looked around for a second.

Brian shrugged. "I haven't seen him at all. I know I have seen his friends hanging around but not him." My heart sank. I knew I was being too overzealous. "Hey, come over here and join us. We are playing a game."

I raised my eyebrow, I wasn't going to play any nerdy game at this party. "What kind of game? DnD?"

"First off, DnD is not that bad of a game. Second, we are playing beer pong over here." I was shocked about what he was saying to me. I feel like this one Saturday really changed Brian. I shrugged and walked with him over to the table. I saw a group of what I am guessing was Brian's friends from the Physics club. I was on Brian's team and two other kids were on the other team, and so the game began.

After what felt like twenty minutes and nine cups of beer later, it was the other teams turn again. Brian and me were getting destroyed at this game and I was also beginning to feel the alcohol in my system. They sink the ping pong ball and I take down the last drink. I watch as Brian moves into the living room to sit down. I don't think the beer was settling well with him. In that moment, I also felt the beer hit my stomach like a ton of bricks. I decided it would be good to walk outside and get some fresh air.

As I walk outside I feel the cool air on my skin, but it feels good. I didn't realize that I was sweating so much. I look around and see smaller groups of people outside in circles talking. Some of them were also smoking and I could smell the Marijuana in the air. I found a lawn chair and sat down. I leaned my head back and took a deep breath. Where was Bender? I didn't think he was going to ditch me like this. It could have been me looking too much into it, but he looked excited that I was going to go. And I was excited to see him as well. But obviously, what happened during Saturday detention was it. It ended there, there was nothing more. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I wiped it away. Why did I keep crying over this guy. I stood back up and went into the house.

I grabbed the closest alcohol that I could and started to chug. I wanted to forget about my tears. I wanted to have fun. Screw John Bender, he wasn't worth my time. I grab another beer and moved my way into the living room where the music was loudest and I started to let loose. My head started to go blurred as I was dancing and the music was blaring through my soul. I felt someone behind me dancing. I looked behind me and it was a boy I had never seen before. He was wearing a letterman jacket, so I am guessing he was an athlete. But, I didn't care who he was I was just having a good time. I chugged my beer that was in my hand and put it down on the table. I continued to dance with this stranger, and I felt myself losing control. I then felt this stranger brush up against my ass. I didn't register it at first, and I let it go. I then felt him put his hand on my bottom and squeeze. I turned to face him and he grabbed my waist and was moving forward for a kiss. Soon his lips were on mine. I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THIS KID! He pulled me closer to him. I barely was able to push myself free before this went too far.

"Don't touch me." My words were slurred.

"Come on girl, you know you want to." He leaned forward again. I was barely able to lift my arm and I slapped him across the face. "What the fuck was that for? You bitch!" He screamed. Everyone was looking over at us now. I felt all the eyes on us. I had to get away, but I was intoxicated. I felt the tears forming in my eyes. I didn't want to be here anymore. I had to get away. I finally was able to get my legs to move, but it wasn't as fast as I was hoping. I felt like I was running, but I know it was probably more like a stumble. I made my way out the front door and into the road. The cold air, sobered me up a bit. Not a lot but it was enough so I could tell my legs to run. I ran all the way home. I looked up at the clock tower in the middle of town and saw that it was almost midnight.

My mind was racing as I ran home. Bender ditched me, he didn't even show up. I should have known he wasn't going to be there. He didn't call me before the party and he left me there alone. He wasn't there and I got felt up by some stupid jock. And then everyone saw, and just looked at me. I was embarrassed and upset. Why did this have to happen to me? The tears kept streaming down my face.

I saw my house coming up. I turned to face my front door and I saw a figure sitting on the step. At first I was scared, who the hell was that? I couldn't make out any distinct features. I decided to walk closer, as I did I started to realize who it was. I also then realized how furious I was. I walked up to the figure and they stood up. I pushed them as hard as I could, which wasn't much with the alcohol in my system. "How dare you show up here! Who do you think you are!? You ditch me! And then I had a guy fucking grope me! And you think it is okay to show up at my front door!? Fuck you, John!" I screamed. I kept pushing him, and I could feel the tears streaming down my face. I was so angry and upset that I couldn't stop crying.

Bender grabbed my wrists, "Mandy calm down." I yanked my wrists back, and gave him another push. He grabbed my face, "Mandy, calm down, look at me, stop." I refused to look up at him. He then lifted my chin and before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I continued to feel tears coming down my cheeks, but i melted into the kiss. As we parted, I finally took a good look at him, and when I did, I was shocked. I looked him in the eyes and saw that there was a bruise forming around his left eye and there was a split on his upper lip. I lightly rubbed my thumb on the bruise and I saw him wince in pain. I gave him a hug and I felt him relax in my embrace. I opened my front door and grabbed his hand as he followed me inside. I closed the door behind us.


	13. Chapter 13) A Night with John Bender

I just want to say thank you for the love for this story. I originally created it for myself, but I am glad that there are people also enjoying the story. I can't fathom it. Just Thank You SO MUCH!!

Also, I am excited about this chapter because you get to learn a but more about Mandy!!

Chapter 13) A Night with John Bender

We walk into my house and I quickly lead him into my living room. I can feel myself sobering up real quick. Granted my head still felt like it was spinning but I was able to comprehend what was going on and what needed to happen. I brought Bender over to the couch and I went to the kitchen to get a cloth and some ice. I could feel my heart racing, I had a feeling I knew what happened, but I was at a loss that it did happen. I went back into the living room and handed him the ice. He reluctantly took it and put it on his eye. 

“You don’t have to take care of me you know.” He says. I gave him a disappointed look. “I just needed to get away from my parents, they were really pissing me off. Thank you for the ice though.” I sat down next to him on the couch and I just couldn’t help but look at his face. I can’t believe these things happen to him.

“What exactly happened to you?” I couldn’t help but ask. I knew the answer of who did this to him, but I wanted to know why.

“Well, I went home and lucky for me my old man was already in a chipper mood,” I could sense the sarcasm in his voice. “Well I gotta tell him about how I now have two months worth of Saturdays, and well he wasn’t that happy to say the least. Him and me got into it and then I left. I decided to walk around for the last couple of hours, and I found myself in your neighborhood, so I decided to stop.” I couldn’t tell whether I was just emotional or if it was the alcohol, but I felt tears coming from my eyes. “Why are you crying?” He asks me.

“I don’t know.” I wiped away the tears. “It’s probably just the alcohol.” I say trying to act tough. 

“Sure it is.” He gives me a smile. “But I do want to say that I am sorry for not calling you, and also not showing to the party.I know I can be an ass but I’m not that much of an ass.”

“It’s okay.” I reach and grab is hand to hold it.

“Wait, did you mention that you were ‘groped’ at the party?” His mood shifted.

“Yeah, some asshole jock thought he could cop a feel. He kissed me but I was able to push him off.” I could see on his face that he was getting pissed. “I mean I handled it. I’m fine. He was just a dick.”

“What was his name? I am going to kill him. He had no right to do anything to you.” He was angry and I get why but I didn’t want him to be angry and concerned about me right now. He is going through things that are more important. 

“John, it’s over, I’m fine. He was drinking, and so wasn’t I, but everything is fine now. I am home, and I will get over it.” I was looking at him right in the eyes. “You are going through something that is more important right now. Your dad hit you! Do you not understand how wrong that is!?”

I could tell that he was still angry, but why? “You don’t have to worry about my dad, I can figure things out with him, okay? But that asshole that kissed you deserves to get his ass beat!” He stood up and put the cloth of ice on the couch. I noticed he was walking towards the door. Where was he going? “I am going to that party and showing with dick a piece of my mind!”

I got up after him. I grabbed his wrists before he could reach for the door, and he turned around and looked at me. “John, stop it!” I grabbed his face. “I am fine! It was just an asshole being an asshole. Karma will get him eventually. You don’t have to go get another black eye because of me. Just stay here with me okay? Please, just stay here with me.” I pleaded. I saw as his expression changed. 

“Okay” was all he said and he stepped away from the door. I knew deep down that it was still bothering him, but I was just glad that he wasn’t going to go after this kid right now. I looked at him again and I noticed that he had spots of blood on his clothes. 

“Did you want to take a shower, or even just a change of clothes. It’s just me and my mom but I might be able to find something in my room.”

He nodded, “That wouldn’t be a bad idea, if you don’t mind.” 

I go upstairs to my room to try to find him at least a different shirt for him to wear. Lucky for me, I have a vast collection of shirts from the thrift store, and luckily a lot of them were over sized. I grab the first shirt that I can find and go back downstairs. When I got downstairs, I see that he his on the couch and he put the ice back on his eye. Thank god, we didn’t need him to have a huge welt on his face. I handed over the shirt to him. 

“Here is the shirt, there is a shower upstairs, it’s pretty much right as you get up the stairs.” He takes the shirt and gives me the ice cloth.

“Thanks” I watch as he goes up the stairs and soon I here the door shut to the bathroom. I walk over to the kitchen and put the cloth by the sink. It then hits me. Where do I go from here? What do we do? John Bender is in my house, and is currently taking a shower in my bathroom. Oh My God! I was glad that my mom wasn’t home, I know she would have a few choice words for me. I realized how gross I felt in my clothes and how badly I wanted to just take off the makeup on my face. 

I decided I would go upstairs and find something else to wear. I go into my bedroom and find an oversized shirt that hit at my knees and a fresh pair of underwear. We were lucky enough to have two bathrooms in my house, granted one of them was my mom’s but it was still nice. I still hear water running from what I considered my bathroom, so I figured I had enough time to go in my mom’s room to take a quick rinse off as well. 

I stepped out of the shower and I had to admit it felt so good to be out of tight pants. Also it felt so good to have the makeup off my eyes. I then realized that I didn’t hear the water running anymore from my bathroom. I threw on my shirt and underwear and headed out of the bathroom. I noticed that my bathroom door was open and so wasn’t my bedroom door. I remember closing it before leaving my room. I walked over and I stood in the doorway and I noticed Bender looking at my records that I had laying out. 

“Hey...” I said from the doorway. He turns around and looks at me. He just just stares at me for a bit. Did I have something on my face? 

“Hey sorry, I didn’t know where you went so I decided to show myself around. You have some nice records over here.” He looks back down at me collection. I walk over next to him and watch as he continues to shuffle through my music. He notices me staring. “Enjoying the view?”

I let out a laugh. “I was just going to say, you look better now that you changed out of that shirt and got the dried blood off your lip.”

“Thanks I guess.” I moved over to my bed and sat down. He grabs one of my records and pulls it out of the sleeve. I then see as he walks over to my player and puts the needle on. All of a sudden the sounds of Metallica filled my room. He continued to walk around me room and was looking at everything. I really wished I had gotten the chance to clean before he came here. I loved to the middle of my bed and sat cross legged. Luckily this shirt was long enough so nothing showed. Thank god!

“So, what is your plan? Are you going to go back to your parents, or are you going to just wander around all night?” I was getting curious, somewhere inside me I wished that he would stay here.

“I don’t know. I might go to one of my friends places and crash on their couch.” He continued to walk around me room. I noticed that he was getting a kick of the posters on my wall. He then took notice of a picture I forgot I had. It was a photo of both of my parents and I when I was about seven or eight. “Is that you?” He asks pointing at the photo.

“Yeah, that’s me and my parents. We were at Acadia National Park in Northern Maine and when that photo was taken. I remember that day.” I looked down at my bed sheets recounting the memory. “I remember we were half way up the trail and I slipped and twisted my ankle, so my dad put me on his back and carried me the rest of the way up. I remember my ankle hurt, but the view from the top of that mountain was breathtaking. We were all so happy, we were just at, i don’t know, we were at peace and it was like bliss.”

Bender walked over to my bed and sat down right in front of me, “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened? Between your parents I mean?” 

I felt a lump in my throat at his question. I had never told anyone what happened, and honestly it was still so new that it still hurts to think about. Somewhere inside me told me that I could tell him though, and that everything was going to be okay. “My dad had an affair with my mother’s friend. I remember the day I found out. I had been at a friends house and my mom was at work. I had gotten back from my friends house early and I had noticed Michele’s car in the driveway so I didn’t think too much about it. She was a friend of not just my mom’s but of the whole family. So I walked in and I went to the bathroom and that’s when I saw a shirt by the kitchen sink. It wasn’t my moms shirt and it wasn’t mine.” I begin to have feelings of disgust and sadness come over me. I feel my eyes watering. “That's when I began to hear the noises. Those DISGUSTING noises. I walked into my parents bedroom and see him fucking this back stabbing bitch in my parents bed. Who the fuck does that!? Come to find out he had been seeing Michele for two years. Two whole years! I wanted to puke in that moment. I hated him so much for doing that to my family. I still hate him for doing it to my family. But I also hate my mom for being so fucking nieve to not know that this was going on right in front of her. I hate both of them.”

I am crying at this point while reliving every detail about that day. Bender reaches over and grabs my hand. I could still feel the tears coming from my eyes. “I’m sorry, Mandy. I’m sorry that happened to you. Parents are stupid they just don’t get it. They tell us to grow up but then they go around and do stupid shit too.” He lifted his hand and wiped away a tear that was rolling down my cheek. I looked up at him and realized how close our faces were. I was glad he was here. It was also nice to be able to tell someone about what happened, finally. I had been holding it in for awhile now. I leaned forward and gave him a kiss. 

I felt as he reciprocated the kiss. I didn’t want this moment to end. I grabbed his face to deepen the kiss. He let it happen. I grabbed the shirt and I pulled him so he was laying next to me on my bed. I refused to break this kiss. It just felt right. Our movements were insync, it felt natural. I didn’t want him to leave. I broke the kiss. “You could stay here.” I whispered. “I mean, you are already here, I don’t mind and my mom won’t be home until tomorrow.” He laughs.

“Is this your way of trying to get me in your bed?” He winked at me. And I gave him a nudge.

“You wish. I was just trying to be nice so you didn’t have to go back out in the cold. However, be my guest. Walk to your friends.” I smiled at him. Our faces were inches apart. He leaned forward and gave me a kiss. 

“Want to turn off the lights?” He asked me.

“Okay, but don’t be getting any ideas, we are only going to be sleeping.”

“Oh, come on, what kind of guy do you think I am?” He responds with a laugh.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” I ask back. I get up from the bed and move over to my record player and turn it off. I then move to my light switch and turn it off. I lay back down and grab the blanket to put over us. I felt comfortable being there with him. He flipped on his back and I decided to take this opportunity to put my head on his chest. I felt as his hand played with my hair. Everything felt perfect. I couldn’t believe I had just met this kid and I already felt like he was a was going to be a big part in my life. I felt as he kissed the top of my head. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14) The Bomb of a Lifetime

Hello everyone! I am so sorry for not posting in a long time. Life has just been very crazy and I do have to admit that I have had very bad writers block. I hopefully will be able to work through it and be able to give you guys the content you deserve. Much Love! 

Chapter 14) The Bomb of a Lifetime

I woke up because of the light that was flooding into my room from my window. I was suddenly aware of the presence that was in my bed. I turned around and I saw Bender still sleeping. I have to admit he looked so peaceful in this moment. He looked gentle and calm. I brought my hand to his face and moved a strand of his long hair. I wished that the world didn’t have to be so cruel to this kid. He didn’t deserve all of it. Granted, he brought some of it on himself, but sometimes it wasn’t warranted. 

I leaned up and gave him a kiss on his cheek trying to not wake him up. I got out from under the covers and moved my way out of my room. I didn’t want to wake him up because I don’t think he ever got this good of a sleep, so why should I ruin it. I walked downstairs and moved to the kitchen. I grabbed a bowl and poured myself some cereal. It was Sunday and I had no obligations for the day. I was honestly debating on weather or not just doing nothing all day. My mom wasn’t going to be back until this afternoon, and it was only eight, so I had time before she got back. I wondered where John was going to go today. Was he going to go back home? Was he just going to walk around the town? I sort of wanted him to hang out with me, but I didn’t want to seem too clingy seeing that we just met yesterday. 

It then hit me. We only met yesterday! That’s crazy to me, I feel like I had known him for what felt like my whole life. I told him things about my life that no one knows about. I normally put up some type of wall when I first met people, but with him, it felt like there was no wall. I could tell him anything and it would just be between him and me. He was different. My thoughts were interrupted by footsteps coming down the stairs. I turn around and see John. He was rubbing his eyes, he still looked tired.

“Good Morning.” I say from where I am standing in my kitchen. “Did you want anything for breakfast?”

“Mornin’” He says. I can’t help but acknowledge his sleeping voice. It was raspy and it was kinda hot. I focused back on him. “Whatcha got?”

“Cereal.” I saw as I grab him a bowl from the cabinet and begin to pour him a bowl.

“Thanks.” He reaches for the spoon I pulled out for him and I watch as he devours the food. Does he not eat?

“Slow down, you’re going to get sick, damn!” He looks over at me and I see him let up. “So, what are your plans for the day? Are you going back to your parents place or are you just going to wander around all day?”

“I don’t know yet. I know I should at least make an appearance at my parents' place, but I don’t think I am going to stay there long. What about you? What are you going to do on this wonderful Sunday?” He continues to drink the milk that is left in the bowl.

“I don’t know yet, my mom comes home today, this afternoon, but I can’t stand to be around her sometimes. She can be suffocating.” I grab his empty bowl and mine too, and bring it to the sink to clean them up. “I might just chill at home in the morning, but I was thinking about going for a walk around town later.”

“Yeah?” He asked me in a questioning tone.

“Yeah, I mean if you wanted to join me on my little outing, I was thinking about going out about six-ish. That’s if you wanted to go.” I said nervously. I wanted him to hang out with me, but I didn’t want to pressure him. I watch as he grabs his clothes from last night and his jacket. Was he already leaving.

“Maybe I will. I’ll call yea at five okay? I should get going before my old man starts pounding back some cold ones. He won’t be so mad if he is sober.” He walks over to me and gives me a kiss. “I promise I will call you.” He flashes his arm to me. “I made sure to not wash it off last night.” I blush, he better keep his promise. “Bye sweets.”

“Bye.” I say as he walks out the front door. I walk back upstairs and get ready for when my mom comes home. 

A few hours had passed and I was just chilling on the couch in the living room. The time was now 11:50 and my mom would be home any minute. I wondered how her trip went. She could really get under my skin but I also wanted to make sure that the trip went well, seeing that she was going back home to the place where my dad had cheated on her. This whole process had been really hard on her. Getting the divorce and moving away from family, it had been a lot. I then heard her car driving up to the house.

She then walked through the door. She walked into the living room and put down her bags. “Hello. I’m home.”

“Hey, mom. How was the trip?”

“It was good, we can talk more about it later. How about you? How was detention?” 

Oh shit, I forgot that I had gotten another detention next weekend. She is not going to be happy about it but there was no way of avoiding it. “Um, okay, but speaking of detention....”

“Mandy Marano! Please tell me you are not about to give me bad news!”

“Well, I can’t. I might have gotten another Saturday detention...”

“Mandy Marano! What did you do? Why? What happened?” I could tell that she was flustered and also disappointed. But I had to give her the answers she was looking for. 

“Well I just laughed at a joke and the Vice Principle gave me another one. It isn’t that big of a deal. Don’t worry, I won’t get another one. He was just being a dick.”

“Mandy! Language! And it better not happen again. The next time this happens, you will be grounded until you are thirty years old.” She was oddly being okay about this. Normally she would be blowing her casket and grounding me for a month. What was going on.

I walked over to the kitchen and went to grab some water. She followed me. “So, how was the trip? What happened?”

She walked over towards me and leaned on the cabinets. “It was good. I got to see your grandmother and she wishes you the best. Oh, I also got you a present.”

Okay something wasn’t right. What’s going on here. “Thank you, but what really happened? I can tell you are being way to calm about this trip. Spit it out. What do you have to say.”

She signed. She knew that she wasn’t going to be able to get away with this charade for long. She had to just tell me. “Okay, well don’t freak out when I say this. But I was talking to your dad, and we went out for dinner last night.”

“Mom, no don’t do this! No! No! NO!” 

“Mandy let me talk.” I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. “I was talking to him and I think him and me are going to talk through some things out. I think you should talk to him as well.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you are going to get back with that asshole!? Mom, he cheated on you with one of your closest friends! Don’t! I am not talking to him.” I was disgusted at the thought of this. I know my mom was stuipid but I didn’t think she was this stupid.

“Mandy, I never said I was getting back with him. But he is your dad. We should at least be civial about this and give him a chance to talk to you.”

“I am not talking to him.” I was not going to give in on this situation. The thought of him made me want to vomit.

“Well, you are going to have to talk to him because he is going to be coming to Illinois next weekend. So you are going to have to get over this whole thing Mandy!”

“What the fuck mom!” I was so pissed. She wasn’t giving me a choice on what I wanted to do. “Where is he going to stay? Here? Because I am not going to be anywhere near here next weekend. I am not talking to that cheating dick!”

“Mandy!!! Language! Watch it! You are on thin ice. And you are going to talk to your dad whether you like it or not. He is going to be staying at a local hotel don’t worry. But you have to talk to him!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

I couldn’t be a part of this conversation anymore. I had to leave. I started to walk up the stairs to my room. 

“Where are you going?”

“Away from you crazy lady!” I said stomping up the stairs. That’s what she was, crazy. Does she not realize that I am the one that caught him in the act. I was not going to see that man if I didn’t have to. I needed to get away, I needed to be away.

“Mandy!”

I walked into my room and closed the door. I knew my mom wasn’t going to follow because I knew she wouldn’t want to add fuel to the fire. She was so passive and she let others walk over her. The worst part is I knew my dad knew that as well. She says that they were just talking but I know that he was going to say things to suck her back in. I was not going to be around to watch that happen. I wasn’t my moms biggest fan but I didn’t want to see her get hurt again. I also just didn’t want to see that asshole that ruined my family. I put on some music and laid in my bed to drown out the rest of the world around me.


	15. Chapter 15)

Chapter 15)

It had been hours since I have been in my room. It had felt like I had listened to all of the music I owned. I don’t know how this much time had escaped me but I noticed that it was already dark outside. I decided now would be a good time to finally get out of my bed and face the reality of the situation that I was in. Well, that was the plan until I heard a weird noise. It sounded like a weird tapping. What the fuck is that noise? I heard the tapping again. I looked around my room completely confused. Then the tapping again, and I realized where it was coming from. My window.

I walked over to my window and pulled back the curtain more then it was. I looked down and I saw someone standing there in my front lawn. I looked closer and I realized who it was. Bender. I opened my window and stuck out my head. 

“Bender? What are you doing?” I said down to him in a loud whisper.

“I was in town and I remember you mentioned wanting to go out. So, did you want to go out?” He responded.

I rolled my eyes. I felt like now was not the right time. I was still annoyed by the conversation earlier with my mother, and I didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone. 

“Bender, I am not in the mood right now.”

“Did you want to talk about it?”

Another moment where John was showing his soft side. Did he really care about what was going on? It through me off but my mood still hadn’t changed. 

“No, please leave.” I regretted saying that instantly. I heard the annoyance in my voice and I realized that he didn’t deserve that. I noticed he shrugged and started walking off. Was he really just going to give up that easy? Whatever. I closed the window and walked back into my room.

I was about to lay back down on my bed but then I heard the phone ring. I listened closely and I heard my mom answer. 

“Hello, Paul...yeah I talked to her...we will have to see what happens.” It was my dad who was on the phone. I instantly wanted to escape. I threw on a sweatshirt and I ran out of my bedroom door. Lucky for me when I made my way down the stairs I heard my mom was on the phone and when I looked over towards the kitchen, where the phone was, her back was to me. I took this moment to go, and I walked out the front door. 

I walked to the road and looked both ways and I saw a figure walking in the dark. I ran towards them.

“Bender” I yelled. He stopped and turned around to face me. I decided to slow down and do a quick walk instead. I soon caught up to John. “I changed my mind, I guess I could do a walk and talk.”

He let out a scoff. “I knew you would change your mind.” He smiled at me.

“How did you know I was going to change my mind? It just happened.”

“I could just tell.” 

I just gave him a half smile and the side eye. “Whatever. So are we going to go for a walk or not?”

“Yes, follow me.” He smiled towards me, and looked down at my hands. I grabbed my right hand and we started to walk. As soon as he grabbed my hand I felt instant butterflies in my stomach. Why did he have this way over me. I can’t believe I was here with him and I also couldn’t believe how quickly I was falling for him and how much a part of my life he was becoming in just one day. Either way I was glad he was here and I was ready for this walk. He broke my thoughts “So what’s going on sweets?”


	16. Chapter 16)

Chapter 16)

I could feel Bender’s hand in mine. It felt like a sense of home which was weird to think about. He was so cold to everyone around him, so to think that I was different was a weird thought. I looked up at him. “You really want to know what’s going on? Or are you just asking because you feel obligated?” He raised his eyebrows at me like I was crazy. “It’s just a question. Because I don’t know if you want to get involved in this mess right now.”

He just kept staring at me.”Sweets, if I didn’t want to know I wouldn’t have asked. So are you going to tell me what’s going on or not?”

I let out a sigh and finally gave in to his pestering. “My dad is trying to visit me, and my mom seems oddly okay with the whole thing. Like she just forgot what she did to her and me. It’s like she just forgave him and is still in love with him. I don’t want to see him, but my mom is forcing me to. I don’t think I will be able to stand seeing his face. I would just be flooded with images of him and that woman. I hate my parents for putting me in this situation.” I finally took a breath. “So that’s what’s going on with me.” 

I looked over at him to see if he was able to comprehend everything I just said. I felt like I was talking a million words a minute. He looked calm which surprised me. I guess I was expecting him to look at me like I was crazy or something. We just kept walking hand in hand in silence for a moment. I wanted so desperately to know what was going on in his mind. I faced forward and realized where we were walking towards. It was a park that wasn’t too far from my house. It wasn’t anything crazy. It had swings and a small jungle gym, but that was it. He looked back at him and he was still calm and looking forward.

We reached the park and headed towards the swings. I chose to sit down and I expect him to sit on the one next to me but his next move shocked me.He grabbed onto the chains that were holding up my swing and stood over me. I couldn’t help but look up at him. “Parents are idiots and if you don’t want to talk to your dad you shouldn’t have to. I don’t blame you for not wanting to see him at all, but I do think that you should at the very least talk to him eventually, but when it is right for you. But what you really should do is talk to your mom about this whole thing.” 

I just looked at him. I swear this was not the John Bender that I knew.He would have told me to fight them or something, not talk to them. Who was this person in front of me because I didn’t recognize them. “Who are you and what have you done to John Bender?”

He let out a laugh. Was this funny to him? I was starting to get pissed. I sat here and vented to him just for him to side with my parents and then laugh no thank you. I pushed his chest trying to get him away from me. I couldn’t have him standing over me laughing. He didn’t budge, instead he just looked down at me and grabbed my chin so I had to look at him. “Mandy, you know I am right. Yes parents suck, you know that I know that. But your parents are only trying to be there for you, unlike mine, who don’t care if I fell off the face of the earth. Just talk to them.” 

I knew he was right but I hated it anyways. I let out a sigh, I wasn’t going to win this argument. “I will talk to my mom okay, but not my dad, not yet.” I finally gave in. He smiled at me. “Don’t be cocky. I am not going to talk to her because you said so. I am going to talk to her because I realized I should.”I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, okay. Whatever you have to tell yourself, sweets.” He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss and headed towards the jungle gym. I watched as he climbed up and sat down on the small bridge that connected the two parts of the structure, with his feet dangling and his face between two bars. I just watched him. He baffled me so much. He was so cold, but he had a soft side. I looked and I saw that the bruise by his eye was still pretty bad from the other night. I got up from the swing and walked over to the jungle gym. I climbed up the steps and sat next to him. 

“How are you doing today? After everything that happened yesterday. “ I asked him. “Your eye doesn’t look as bad as I was expecting it to be. 

He didn’t make eye contact with him. He just kept staring off towards the road that we walked down to get to the park. “It is okay. I don’t really feel it. Honestly I am used to it.”

“How was it at home? Was it bad?”

“It was whatever. When I got home my dad was just watching tv. And my mom was in there too. They didn’t really pay any mind to me. They did have the decency to tell me that they will be out of town next weekend. I am pretty happy to get a break from them. I would like to not have to worry about them for once.” He looked over at me and gave me a half smile and then looked back towards the road. I so desperately wanted to know what was going through his mind. He looked so serious. It made me wonder if he was thinking the same thing that I was. 

“Hey I have a question.” He looked over to me. “What is going to happen tomorrow? We go back to school and I don’t know how it’s going to be.” There was silence between us. I started to get nervous. He wasn’t answering and it concerned me. He finally spoke up.

“If I am being honest, which I'm not that often, I don’t know. What I do know is that this weekend has changed my life in some way. I don’t know how but it has.” I looked over at him and smiled. It wasn’t necessarily the answer that I wanted, but I felt comfort in the response. I just knew that this weekend was just the beginning of ws going to happen and this crazy journey.


End file.
